To Just Live
by If Anyone Knew I Would
Summary: Harry and Co. move to Forks after the final battle to start a new happy life but trauma has hit them all hard and trouble is never far. Their old enemy isn't giving up so easily and they're going to need help from the resident vampires. ECxHPslash
1. Prologue

**Sup All, yeah I'm back, this is the first Harry Potter/Twilight crossover I've ever published... God knows I've read more Harry Potter related things than anything else in the world and I've written a few things and scrapped them or lost interest, but this one seems decent, but I'll leave that up to you guys.**

**Universal Disclaimer: From here on out, know that I don't own nothing of Harry Potter except a copy of each of the books and movies they've made (even if I did wish I owned Harry Potter and Co. -drools- so much hotness and fangirl obsessed-ness) and I own nothing of Twilight except a copy of each of the books (which I've read but probably made a few mistakes or changed)**

**Also, know that I've read pretty much every Harry Potter/Edward crossover fanfic out there... some things are going to be similar to the other ones, it just happens, while writing this I was reading a few and noticed some the ideas were similar, I've tried to tweak them enough that they're at least somewhat unique. If it's not unique enough for you, I will gladly try harder to make it more original, but do realize, there is only so much I can work with within my plot line (which is one I haven't seen anything similar to yet so score!) but of course if an author realizes something within my fanfic that is theirs and they don't want me to use it, all it would take it a personal message and I would change it or whatever so it's all good.**

**Another thing! This is Edward/Harry slash... and there is a LOT of Bella bashing... and let's just say I will be hearing none of this "EW SLASH" or "OMG WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO BELLA!" One: I really hate Bella Swan, not going to lie, and two: get over it, don't like, don't read and three: Complaining about something like that will not get me to change anything, sorry.**

**Constructive criticism however, is a lovely gift that I actually like reading, any and all ways to better my writing or the fanfic are appreciated, just no 'this sucks' that helps nothing.**

**Summary: Harry, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Severus move to Forks after the final battle to start a new, happy life, but the trauma has hit them all hard, leaving some more hurt than others and trouble is never far from them. Their old enemy isn't giving up so easily, and they're going to need some help from the resident vampires. ECxHP DMxLL HGxRW all else Cannon.**

**Happy Reading.  
**

Prologue

(Harry's POV)

It happened all so fast. The weeks I had spent in a dirty cell in Voldemort's dungeons seemed so short. They were hell, make no mistake, but I'd suffer a thousand weeks like this for the exchange that I'd done. In saving a friend I'd damned myself to this place. I was dirty, tired, beaten and hungry, but I was alive and somewhere in my mind I was able to hold onto some small fraction of my hope.

My rescue was a bitter one. I felt a heart wrenching joy of being in the arms of friends for only a moment. It was after that moment of pure happiness to be free that I was told we were off to battle. How could anyone ask me to fight in this condition? Before I knew it I was healed and shipped off to battle, despite my friend's cries that I needed rest, because the world needed me. After all, there's no rest for the damned, and there's definitely no mercy for the heroes.

In a second I was standing in the middle of battle, the next I was fighting for my life, our lives, and in the next he lay at my feet, his blood covering my hands. His chest rose and fell so slowly it looked as if he was dead, but I knew the truth.

The whole world seemed still. Half of the people around me were waiting for the killing blow, the others were waiting for me to announce his death so they could let the hope and cheer rise from their hearts.

My breath was frozen. I literally had to do the smallest action and he would be gone. He was staring up at me, waiting, just like everyone else, but he also knew I didn't have the backbone. His voice in my head was telling me so. We both knew he was using the last of his strength to get to me but it didn't seem to change anything. He was right, he was weak, but he was right.

I took a deep breath; I felt more than heard or saw four separate people move. I stared at him and took a step back when I felt them stand beside me. His eyes shined with victory over me, he gave the tiniest and yet the most menacing raspy laugh to ever each the ears of the living and smirked up at me.

I shook like a leaf in the wind before I felt a hand slip into mine. I looked up at Draco. He gave my hand a squeeze before stepping forward with Hermione. The two of them began to do binding spells on Voldemort while Ron and Luna stood next to me. She held my hand and Ron just stood next to me, giving support. She wiped some blood off my face and smiled slightly at me.

Once they were done Draco smirked down at Voldemort and Hermione stepped back. The four backed up behind me and started to leave, signalling that our part in this war was finished, but I just stared into those red eyes, and they stared back, as if they knew that I was too afraid to leave this all behind. My life wasn't about him, but it was about defeating him, now that he was going to be gone what was I to do? Just live? Since when has Harry Potter ever just lived?

I looked up at the sky; it was stained red from the morning sun. Billows of smoke rose from the ashes to greet the sky, telling of our story of battle, death, hate and victory. I took a minute to think of what that must feel like, to just live... It must be so peaceful, to just live in peace. To not have to worry about a mass murderer trying to kill you or your uncle beating you... just to live in peace. I looked down at Voldemort who was still staring at me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Severus Snape standing there; he smiled slightly, telling me I could leave in his own way. I looked down at Voldemort one last time before looking up at the crowd still watching us. "You can have him," I said softly, but my voice carried in the silence. Casting one last glance at those red eyes, I turned with Severus and followed my four best friends out of the battlegrounds.

**A/N: So prologue done... on with the show?**


	2. Chapter 1

**Okay, here we go!**

Chapter 1

(Harry's POV)

I zipped my suitcase closed at last. I was finally finished packing. I sighed in relief and slight sadness and turned at the sound of knocking on my door. Casting a glance over my shoulder, I saw Draco leaning against the doorframe. "Dinner's almost ready," he said gesturing with his head into the hall. "You coming?" he asked and I nodded.

I pushed myself up and wiped the dust from my jeans and smiled at Draco. "Still not comfortable talking?" he asked casually as we walked downstairs.

I shook my head staring at the floor. I had not spoken a word since I had said those four words. My head was still back in the past, back on that battlefield, back in that cell. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were attention seeking," he jested, poking me in the ribs. I smiled slightly and rested my head on his shoulder as he put an arm around my shoulders.

Draco and I had a... different friendship. He was my only 'dark' friend and we teased each other and fought with each other all the time. He was one my best friends because he fully understood all parts of me. He understood my dark tendencies and he understood my anger and my pain. The others got mad at him for making fun of me but I understood that he's just giving me a wakeup call back to reality. While the others understood that I was just... not up for talking, at least out loud, about anything, especially what happened that night and the weeks previous and how Voldemort was messing with my head a little, and let me be; Draco pushed me to speak. He saw that I was injured deep inside, but he'd been there. His father had injured him within his heart and I had helped heal him. He was just returning the favour. Our first months of friendship in 6th year were ones of screaming at each other and fist fights 'til one of us broke down and told the other what was tearing them apart from the inside out.

I was broken on the inside. I didn't have purpose. I was lost and somewhere in the blonde's head I was sure he knew that. Draco could be cuddly as a kitten and as tough and mean as a Rottweiler with me. Right now he was leaning towards the kitten side, probably hoping that if I was just given some time I'd open up and find my voice box once more... but if that failed I was sure he'd start beating it out of me. It didn't scare me, I'd done that to him many times, but it was just something my other friends couldn't and wouldn't do and didn't understand, purely because it would never have the same effect if they did it.

It'd been a week since the battle and Spinner's End was... rather morbid. The entire Weasley family had been wiped out and Luna's father had been killed in one of the many raids. Draco's father and mother were on a one way ticket to Azkaban and Hermione had debated going back to the Muggle world with her parents but she felt she couldn't leave all of it behind so instead stuck with us. Plus I think that she couldn't just forget the whole wizard world.

The five of us were staying with Severus because we were suddenly the biggest thing in the Wizarding World and frankly, the media was insane. Snape was almost always in the basement, his own personal dungeons. We were forbidden from going down there ten seconds after entering his house a week ago. Draco and I entered the kitchen to see them all sitting there and I nodded to them with a smile and Draco did the same.

"All packed boys?" Severus asked. I pointed to myself and nodded. I pointed at Draco and then at Ron and shook my head. Severus rolled his eyes with a small smile as Draco and Ron shot me an annoyed look. I just smiled innocently while the girls giggled.

Severus was a strange individual. Besides the potions that made his hair merely look greasy but actually made them amazingly soft and yet he never corrected anyone on their observation, he was an incredible actor and the proof of that was I didn't know about him being a spy 'til fifth year and then I didn't know about him being not only Draco's godfather and sworn protector but my protector and one of my unofficial godfathers as well until near the end of 6th year. I eventually noticed, mostly during 6th year, how much he protected us over the years. Severus was actually extremely tolerant when it came to me. I had told him how I'd grown up and he understood that sometimes I was childish, but I was childish because I never had a childhood. For that he let me get away with more things than the others, but he still kept me on a tighter leash than I would like.

Severus handed us a plates and we all sat down, at first it was quiet, except for the sounds of chewing. "Well then boys, when you're done I want you to go upstairs and pack your things," Severus said when his plate was finished.

I swallowed the last of my dinner and Draco smacked me in the arm, "Come on, tattletale. Let's go pack." I looked at him with wide innocent eyes in confusion.

Ron chuckled, "Well he did say _boys_, he didn't specify," he said with his mouth half full.

"Table manners would do wonders for you, Ron," Draco sighed dramatically.

Ron rolled his eyes as he got up to put his dishes away. "I second that notion," Hermione muttered under her breath and Luna giggled as she subtly held up three fingers.

I merely sat howling in silent laughter, a strange wheezing noise escaping my lips but that was all. "Come on, Chuckles, let's get a move on," Draco said nudging my shoulder and I got up with the other boys and followed them upstairs.

"So where are we moving?" Ron asked for the hundredth time.

"Ron," Draco exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "We are moving across the pond to the U.S. to a small town near the Pacific to start over so that we can leave all the media buzz behind and live like normal teenagers." He said this slowly as if he was talking to a five year old that didn't understand him.

Ron rolled his eyes again, "Well I know that! I wanted to know the name of that town, Dimwit."

Draco threw his hands in to the air in frustration, "Well, why the bloody hell didn't you say that in the beginning?" He shouted, finally losing any resemblance to the Malfoy Code of Conduct.

"I did!" Ron shouted as the two of them got into another argument. I sighed and started separating Ron's things from Draco's and putting them on each of their beds. Ron and Draco always fought. Don't get me wrong deep, deep, _deep_ down they liked each other just fine, but they had a way of setting each other off. They never really got mad enough to do any real harm to each other, just enough to have a good shouting match and annoy the rest of us on occasion.

After I had sorted nearly everything the two had finished shouting at each other, "So what is the name of this town?" Ron huffed, I hadn't been listening but clearly he'd lost.

"Forks or something, I have a feeling you'll enjoy it," Draco said smugly. I shot him a look that told him to knock it off.

Ron sneered at him before going over to his bed and started packing what was there. Draco shooed me away from his things, "Stop being so damn helpful Harry," he said smiling slightly and pushed me over to my bed. I sat down and watched them pack in silence for a bit.

Draco was finished before Ron so the two of us just sat and watched as he tried to shut his suitcase. "I could use some help you know...," he grunted as he tried to force everything into the small bag. Draco rolled his eyes and flicked his wand and the second he did Ron's things fit easily. "How did you...?" he began to ask before shaking his head, "Never mind."

Draco smirked before turning to me, "We still haven't gotten you a paper pad and pen yet, have we?" he asked me and I shook my head. He frowned and looked at Ron, "How did we ever survive not know what he was saying?" he asked kind of rhetorically.

Ron shrugged, "Most likely a large barrage of yes and no questions and vague hand gestures," he stated getting up. Draco rolled his eyes. Ron waved his wand a quill and a green paper pad floated over to him. I took it and wrote a quick thanks to Ron. "No problem."

"Boys, we're leaving," Hermione and Luna called up the stairs.

"Come on, better not keep the beautiful ladies waiting," Ron said wiggling his eyebrows and this started up another round of Draco and Ron's bickering. I just sighed and ignored them as I grabbed my bag. As I left the house I sorely hoped this new life would be better than this one.

"Harry, we're going to be late!" Ron shouted up the stairs, "You too prissy boy!" he added as an after through.

"I'm not the one hogging the bathroom," Draco sang as I heard his slow, perfectly paced footsteps descend the stairs.

I cast the door a dirty look before looking back at myself in the mirror. My scar was still on my forehead, a constant reminder of the man who ruined my life. Severus had tried everything but it wouldn't go away. Severus thought it was because he wasn't dead; after all they were still gathering people to testify against Tom Riddle Jr. I understood why, but it was frustrating to think that he of all people would get a fair trial. My glasses were gone, Hermione had found a spell to fix my eyes, but in the place of them were the scars and bruises littered all over my body from my kidnapping. I stared at the faint bruise along my left jaw line. I hoped no one would notice it.

I sighed and opened my mouth and tried to speak but all I got was a raspy noise. The ghostly, raspy sound of Voldemort's last laugh echoed in my ears and I squeezed my eyes shut in attempt to block it out. I closed my mouth and panted as if I had exerted myself and looked down at the sink and my hands that gripped the counter. I shook my head and walked out of the bathroom.

I walked down the stairs of our new, and extremely normal looking, house. Once on the bottom floor the others were impatiently waiting. "So tell me again, why are we going to Muggle school?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow at Hermione.

"Because Severus said so and because we should be in 7th year, like most of our year, so we're going to Muggle school to get our diploma and then we can go do whatever the hell we want," Draco snapped, answering for the curly haired brunette.

_Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed_ I wrote quickly and showed him with a small smirk.

He rolled his eyes, "I just have a bad feeling about this," he muttered.

"I think it'll be good for us...," Luna said mistily. I locked eyes with her and she smiled. I nodded in acceptance. I wasn't sure if the others knew, but Luna was a seer. She didn't tell a lot of people, as far as I know only Severus and I knew out of us. Neville knew too... but he was long gone from this world. Voldemort killed him after he destroyed Nagini. I still felt unbelievably guilty that I couldn't help him, but I hadn't been on the battle field yet to help. I wouldn't tell Luna's secret, it was up to her to tell the others, so whenever she dropped a hint like that I just listened to it and let it brush by unnoticed.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's go," she said grabbing my hand and leading me out to the shiny new silver car we had purchased as the 'kid's car.' Severus had gotten his own jet black car and I had seen Draco envying it from afar but Severus had quickly explained that we were not to even think about breathing on it, let alone touching it, without his permission.

She climbed into the driver's seat before anyone could stop her or try to persuade her to let them drive. After all she was the only one with a license. Luna got shotgun, giving us grins as she did. I shook my head slightly and climbed into the back with Draco and Ron.

Arriving at school we all hopped out and I looked around the parking lot, Hermione smiled at me as she exited the car, "Easy as pie," she said simply and started towards the high school, "Come on," she said sounding very, very excited.

"She just loves learning doesn't she...," Ron said shaking his head and Draco and Luna chuckled softly.

"I don't have a chance in hell of beating her for the highest grade do I?" Draco asked me and I shook my head with a smile. "Yeah didn't think so... at Hogwarts I at least was close. Second in the whole year only to her," Draco boasted.

I scribbled out, _so you've told me,_ onto my pad with a grin.

He shook his head slowly, "Keep the wit, Potter," he sneered.

_Not my fault if you set yourself up for these things,_ I scrawled.

"What are you two talking about over there? Let's get a move on!" Hermione called to us and I looked up in surprise seeing that the others had left.

"Come on," Draco said and we met up with the others, I glanced around the parking lot again and saw a woman getting out a silver car halfway down the parking lot. She was a short bouncy girl with inky black, spiky hair. She looked somewhat familiar, like I'd seen someone or something similar in the past.

I cocked my head to the side slightly as I stared at her, as she emerged she looked over in our direction and her eyes seemed to land on me. I blinked and cocked my head the other way. I was about to turn to ask Draco what he thought when a loud bang caused me to jump.

Draco, Hermione, Luna and Ron immediately surrounded me on all sides and I had to reach over Luna's shoulder to see before they relaxed. A large red truck pulled into the parking lot and had backfired. The two in the truck did not look very pleased, in fact the woman looked downright pissed off while the man looked miffed but was trying, rather fruitlessly, to conceal it. The woman was nothing special, just like any other girl on the planet, but the boy, he seemed more beautiful than the rest. The red truck parked in beside the girl and the two got out and joined the girl, making them three.

As they parked I noticed the girl still staring at us... or rather at me and yet still engaging in conversation with the two newcomers. I pushed through Luna and Ron and quickly wrote, _remember the rules_ and underlined it three times before showing them. I gave them stern looks before heading straight for the three. We had rules back when we were in the war, the first being the most important: to trust my judgement in a battle. It generally carried out to other situations.

"H-Harry this seems unwise," Hermione stated rushing after me. I ripped the piece of paper out of my pad and practically threw it at her and kept walking.

Draco appeared at my right side, "Are you sure about this?" he whispered. I knew there was a difference in his question. He wasn't trying to deter me; he was just assuring that this wasn't just another-on-the-fly, stupidly-Gryffindor-courage-induced plan that was driving me.

_Of course, don't get your knickers in a twist, snake boy. I know what I'm doing... at least I have some idea_; I wrote quickly and let him read. I quickened my pace as I got closer; knowing Draco was the first thing that would get between our two groups if there was a conflict. He was in full battle mode right now, I could tell by the molten silver in his eyes.

The group seemed to know where we were headed and walked casually towards us. I looked into all their eyes; they were both a honey topaz yellow, except for the one chocolate brown in the average girl. It clicked right about then.

"Harry," Hermione hissed in a low voice.

I wrote in response, _they can hear you even if you whisper._

"You know?" Hermione gasped lowly and now quickened her pace to keep up with my stride. She was taller than me from the years of malnourishment but somehow my steps seemed quicker than hers.

_Let's keep that information to ourselves for now. They're veggies after all, I don't know for sure how they'd react,_ I wrote not even looking at the page. I was watching the group as we approached them.

"They won't do us harm," Luna whispered mysteriously, her head angled to the side slightly, "They're just as curious. We act oddly." I smiled slightly, the rest gave her a confused look but I nodded at her in appreciation.

"At least one of us does," Ron muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, that'd be you Ron," Draco hissed glaring. He always defended Luna, no matter who it was who teased her. It had to do with the fact that she and I had been the ones to save him from being made a Death Eater, it didn't end well for me, but Luna and I managed to save him and I managed to save them.

_Stop your bickering. Now is not the time_, I wrote. I ripped it out and slammed it into Draco's chest. His steps faltered for a moment and he saw my eyes ablaze for a moment with annoyance and read the message before handing it to Ron without a second glance.

The short inky haired girl was the first to reach us, "Hello, I'm Alice Cullen, you must be the new students, the ones adopted by our new chemistry teacher?" she asked with a pixy smile. I smiled at the thought of Severus as a Chemistry teacher. Don't get me wrong, it was very him, it just amused me that he was able to have a new life and here he was part time teaching Chemistry.

I smiled slightly and touched Hermione's hand. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger. This is Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Ron Weasely and Harry Potter." She motioned to each of us as she spoke. Some of us, meaning Draco and I and possibly Ron and Luna, they were still on the fence about it, were still in the process of getting our names changed from our original last names to Severus' last name. I bowed my head slightly to hide my smile. I knew Hermione would save me for last, just in case they'd heard of me. Each of them had said a greeting at their name.

Alice smiled, something tinkling in her eyes. How Dumbledore of her... I thought with a smile. I wrote quickly on my pad, _knowledge is in her eyes. Tell them I say hi._

Hermione leaned over to read what I wrote, "Harry says hi and it's nice to meet you, you'll have to excuse him. He's mute." I smiled at them. Somehow I knew that she'd add to what I said. I knew I had picked the right one of us to speak when now, none of the others really understood what it was to be mute and it was the closest explanation we had. Muteness could be healed in the magical world.

Alice blinked looking slightly surprised. "Oh, well it's very nice to meet you too, Harry. This is Edward Cullen and Bella Swan." She motioned to each and each nodded in turn.

I flipped my notepad over and wrote, _nice to meet you all, do you mind showing us to the office?_ I flipped it around so they could see and smiled slightly. Alice giggled, "Sure, right this way."

Our trip to the office was short and once we stepped in I instantly noticed Severus standing talking to a woman behind the counter. He was dressed all in black, black pressed formal pants, black button shirt and a black suit jacket. I smiled at him and wrote quickly _snazzy_ and flipped it over for him to see.

The others leaned around to read what I said and Draco and Ron cracked up when they saw what I said while the veggie's merely watched with curious expressions. The brown eyed one, Bella, looked like she wanted to leave.

His lips quivered as if he was going to smile but resisted it. "Tone down the cheek, Harry. I can give you detention." I raised an eyebrow at him and he gave me a stern look back, a warning that the last part he wasn't kidding about. He turned his attention to the larger group. "Morning children, here are your schedules. I tried to arrange for you to have a class with at least one of your siblings, Harry, but you have biology without any of them, I apologize for the inconvenience." Severus said, formal as always in public.

I smiled and wrote, _how did you know I wouldn't want to take physics or chem.? Secondly, why didn't you put me in chem. anyways? I would figure the new evil chem. teacher would enjoy torturing his students._ Okay so I was alluding to the fact that he was a git of a potion's master, what was he going to do about it?

Severus smirked, "Harry, your math is atrocious and you despise chemistry and frankly I didn't want your cheeky butt in my class."

I let out a silent laugh and nodded in acceptance. My laugh was an eerie thing and I knew that. Watching me laugh was like watching someone laugh with the mute button on. I knew it kind of disturbed the others, considering they knew that I actually could laugh... I just for some reason wasn't able to at the moment. It bothered me just about as much as the others, possibly more, so I didn't laugh much anymore.

Severus smiled; it seemed he was pleased that he made me visibly happy for once. "Wait, so you let him off the hook and you get me stuck in chemistry with these two nerds?" Ron asked staring at Severus with his mouth slightly open in surprise.

Severus smiled, "Oh Ronald, you know, this is going to be a fun year. Whereas you're just as terrible as Harry at chemistry, you aren't nearly as snarky or rebellious in class. Welcome to hell, you dunderhead," Severus said but the smirk was the tip off to Ron that he was just yanking his chain. Ron stood there with his mouth opening and closing for a couple seconds.

Severus turned his attention to the other three, who had all been paying close attention to us relating to each other except the brown eyed girl, Bella, who looked incredibly bored. "Good morning, might I ask as to who you all are?" he asked his face a mask of no emotion.

They introduced themselves again and he nodded, "Well, thank you for guiding these ruffians to the office." He gave me a smirk and I rolled my eyes, "Now off to class all of you." He said abruptly and walked off. I blinked in almost surprise. I looked down my schedule.

"Come on, Harry, we've got the same morning classes," Draco said grabbing my arm. I nodded and quickly wrote _see you guys around_ to the veggies and hurried off with Draco.

Morning classes seemed like an odd affair. The students were interested in Draco it seemed for his stunning looks, but they were fascinated with my inability to speak. It was stressful. I felt incredibly tense and I felt a headache coming on. It also didn't help that I kept feeling sharp attacks on my occlumency shields every few minutes. As the lunch bell rang I let my head drop into my hands. I felt a hand on my shoulder and Draco leaned down near my left ear, "Are you alright? Do you need to see Severus?" I shook my head and then nodded. He helped me to my feet and I knew I was attracting attention but I didn't care.

Draco led me down the hall and I let my eyes stare off into space as I tried to follow the thing attacking my head. I didn't even notice when I was sitting again or when Severus was in front of me. I closed my eyes and let my head fall into my hands and searched harder. I came up blank and I let out an exasperated sigh and sat back in my chair. I grabbed my notepad and ignored Draco and Severus' worried looks as I wrote down what was happening.

"Hmm, how odd-" Luna, Hermione and Ron burst into the room, effectively cutting Severus off from what he was saying.

"Oh Harry, are you alright?" Luna asked rushing over. Draco, Ron and Hermione looked at each other in slight confusion.

_I'm fine, just a headache,_ I wrote.

She sighed deeply, "Oh good, I guess what I saw was too far in the future..."

"What did you see?" Severus asked saving me the time of writing it.

"I saw Harry collapse in the hall holding his head... I think it was later though...," Luna bit her lip as if she was unsure.

"You saw?" Ron asked blinking slightly in confusion.

Luna paled and looked at them and then back at Severus and I. I nodded and she swallowed slightly, "I'm a seer," she said simply and Ron was the only one who looked slightly surprised.

Draco smiled as Hermione exclaimed, "I knew it!"

Luna sighed and seemed to radiate calm, "Well that's a relief..."

_Told you they wouldn't freak out_, I wrote with a smile.

"Yeah I know you did, cheeky-pants," Luna teased with a grin.

"Back to the problem, someone's trying to get into Harry's head," Severus seemed kind of pissed off by that fact, which was understandable. He never came out and said it, but we were like his own children to him.

"You think it's the Veggies?" Draco asked and Severus raised an eyebrow at him. "You're telling me you didn't notice the obvious vampires this morning?" He asked incredulously.

"No, I'm just wondering how you knew," Severus stated giving him a curious look.

The four of them looked right at me and Severus sighed, "I should have known. You were the only one who really paid much attention in Care of Magical Creatures... other than Hermione anyways."

_Well I knew almost right away, Hermione knew after a few seconds_, I wrote.

Hermione smiled at me slightly, "So how do we get them to back off without actually telling them to?"

Luna's eyes went slightly unfocused, "There will be no need by the end of the day. They will somehow know."

"Can't you see how they'll know?" Ron asked purely out of curiosity.

"No, I don't actually see things, I generally just get feelings about the future, and rarely do I ever get actual visions... my visions tend to be more certain," she cast me a worried look and I smiled at her writing _I'll be fine._

"Just don't overexert yourself, Harry, and you should be fine. How are your occlumency shields?" Severus asked and I shrugged and gave him a thumbs-up.

_Whoever was trying to get into my mind has stopped for now_, I wrote and shrugged.

He nodded, "If it starts up again come see me. You all better go eat before the bell. See you three next class and Harry, try to stay out of trouble and Luna, have a pleasant afternoon," he said smiling nicely at her and she laughed and nodded.

We all headed out into the hall and the moment we did we were greeted by a girl with brown curly hair and a bright smile, "Hi! I'm Jessica, want to eat lunch with my friends and me?" she asked pretty much looking straight at Hermione, Luna, Ron and Draco and practically ignoring me. I immediately didn't like her, but I decided to keep this to myself and give her a chance.

As we entered the cafeteria I took out the one muggle electronic thing that was actually entirely mine, a MP3 player. I put in one ear bud and put it in as I waited in line with the others. I smiled as I listened to the familiar music. I liked a wide variety of music but I found that I liked a lot of old classics and rather underground music of today and oddly enough country music, but only country music about important stuff... nothing about trackers. I gathered some food to eat; my appetite was still a little messed up from my time in Voldemort's cell so there was a bit less than the others. I mouthed a few of the words to the song as I waited to pay with Draco.

Draco just shook his head as he knew what I was doing. "I wish you would sing. I recall you had a pretty good voice," he whispered in my ear.

I went rigid and stopped mouthing words. I stared forward as my thoughts went right back to my old life. Draco seemed to realize what happened and leaned down and whispered, "I apologize, Harry. I didn't mean to upset you. Forgive me?" he asked sincerely.

I blinked and looked at him with a smile and nodded. I paid for my food and followed Jessica to what seemed the loudest table in the cafeteria. I cringed at the noise. Draco noticed, "We can sit somewhere else..." he trailed off. I set my food down and pulled out my paper pad from my jacket pocket.

_It's fine. You know I hate large groups and loud noises, but I'll be fine. I don't want to deter you from making friends_, I wrote and let only him see.

He scoffed and whispered in my ear, "As if I want to be friends with these people, please, Harry, you know me." I smiled; Draco really shouldn't be so unintentionally funny.

Luna was watching the Cullens and the one Swan. Jessica noticed and said, "Oh, do you not know who they are?" she asked Luna.

"Oh, no, we met this morning," She said as if it was no big deal but the whole table went quiet.

"Really? Huh, they must like people not from small towns," someone sneered at the table and I cocked my head to the side.

_What do you mean by that? _I wrote and flipped it around so the guy could read it.

The guy raised an eyebrow at me, several people chuckled but I remained my cool. "What's with the paper?"

_I'm mute, unless you want to try to figure what I'm saying through sign it's easier this way._

Still some people chuckled slightly, I wasn't entirely sure why. "So, you can't speak at all?" for some reason the blonde girl who spoke sounded sceptical.

I opened my mouth and tried to say 'hi' but all that came out was the same raspy noise I had gotten when I looked in the mirror this morning. I shuddered, swallowed and gave a small cough. _Satisfied?_ I asked her.

"Oh, what happened?" a guy from before asked.

I swallowed and wrote _I believe you never answered my original question._

The guy frowned slightly, "Oh yeah, well the Cullens and Co. only seem to associate with themselves and Bella Swan, the old newbie and now you guys and you all are the only ones who have come here from big cities. You're from London right?" he asked frowning.

Hermione nodded for us. "Personally I think they're just trying to gather more kids for Mrs. Cullen to adopt," Jessica said examining her nails. "She adopted them all except Bella, who's the Chief police officer's daughter in town, but I think she just adopted them because she can't have kids." She added at the end.

I instantly fumed. Visions of my uncle, aunt and cousin passed in my mind and I wrote furiously for a few seconds before ripping out the paper and slamming it on the table and gathering my stuff and getting up and leaving.

On the paper were the words: _How can you be so insensitive? You are a horrid person. They are clearly loved by Mrs. Cullen, and just because someone can't have kids doesn't mean that her kindness isn't as valid. Some people would kill for that kind of love growing up so you can sod off you stupid cow. Some people will never get over the things done to them by uncaring adults they were entrusted to. You should be glad you have two parents who love you and stop spreading gossip about things you aren't even sure about. Some people aren't as lucky._

Draco who had been reading over my shoulder followed my lead without a second thought. The others started to get up and I guess they had read what I wrote by then. I could hear Draco's parting words before I made it out of the cafeteria. "You really are a stupid girl. Stop making up stories about people and think before you speak. I grew up in abusive home and Harry's an orphan who because of his living situation can't even tell you the shit he's been through because he can't _fucking talk_. We would have killed to live under better conditions, so the next time you think about belittling someone who genuinely cares about those kids, you should think that maybe there are people who would have done anything to be in that sort of environment."

I knew they would want to make sure I was okay, but I wanted to be alone for a few minutes, so I made sure I got away from them before they could stop me. I made it outside and sat at one of the picnic benches and put my head in my hands to think. The prodding of my occlumency shields was back, but now I had new fury to follow it and it was getting closer. So close in fact the presence ended up in front of me. I looked up and Edward Cullen of all people was standing there staring down at me. I opened my mouth to exclaim, 'You!' but all I got was a strange choking noise. I coughed and Edward looked alarmed. I held up a finger as I pulled out my paper pad.

Call me impatient but I was rather sick of this skate around what they actually were so I started writing exactly what I was thinking.

_You! You're the one who has been trying to get into my head and don't look so damn surprised. I know exactly what you are and, for Merlin's sake, don't freak out. We're not here to disrupt your life or something. We're just here to start a new life._ I wrote and showed him.

His eyes widened slightly as he read and then went back to normal. "You have a way of keeping me out?" he asked in surprise.

_Yeah, and you trying to get in is giving me a headache_, I wrote.

"So why not just let me in?" Edward asked calmly.

My pen paused before I closed my eyes and the walls in my head fell. _**Because no one is allowed in**_, I thought and the walls went right back up with more force.

Edward was quiet for a little bit, "You have a nice voice. It's a shame you can't speak."

I swallowed and looked at my hands. _**There's nothing wrong my voice... I just... don't want to talk... it's gotten to the point where to matter how hard I try I can't speak.**_

"Why?" Edward asked sounding very, very confused and yet concerned.

I threw up my occlumency shields. Try as I might this was one subject I just couldn't talk about, and if I couldn't tell my family I'd be damned if I was able to tell some random stranger. I got up, feeling agitated that he asked me that question in the first place and that I couldn't answer it. "Wait, Harry, I apologize. I didn't mean to make you upset."

_Well you did._ I wrote and wrote nothing about his apology. I wasn't sure I forgave him just yet. I ripped out the piece of paper and gave it to him as I walked away.

"Harry!" I heard Draco call and he was at my side in a few seconds. "He didn't hurt you did he?" Draco asked. I paused slightly before shaking my head. Draco cast Edward a dirty look, who was still just standing there clutching my piece of paper and staring after me. "What did you say to him? Are you okay?" Draco asked his eyes alight with worry.

I sighed and wrote _nothing of importance. He knows I know he's a veggie and that's about it._

Draco looked mildly surprised before he hid it well behind his masks of indifference. "Okay," was his only reply, I raised an eyebrow at him. I was sure he would have exploded with questions and comments about what I did but he hadn't. "I know the rules," Draco said simply.

I smiled and shook my head. I didn't trust myself, to be honest; I didn't know how anyone could trust me to make the right choice. I brushed it off and headed for biology while Draco went to Chemistry.


	3. Chapter 2

**Sorry I haven't updated, I was in the states for the last week and a half. I will openly admit that this chapter is kinda lame, it's basically filler, however it gives insight into what Edward is thinking and feeling and therefore gives important information, so while tempting, please suffer through it and read on. In future chapters, it will be unlikely that this will ever occur again.**

Chapter 2

(Edward's POV)

I tried to mask my annoyance at this situation. Bella had become increasingly obnoxious in the last few weeks. I blamed it on... lady problems for a while, but it was soon becoming apparent that this wasn't just lasting for a week... She wanted to know where I was at all times and so I hardly had time with my beloved family. I missed them so much and that's saying something considering that I technically live with them.

I had gotten glimpses of Alice at school and there were some classes without Bella where it was just her and I but I felt guilty about not liking being around Bella. A few days ago after I had ranted to Alice about Bella getting on my nerves, she had a vision and told me some new people were coming to Forks and that I might find them interesting. I didn't get to see what else she was talking about because she blocked me out.

Bella's truck was driving me insane as well. The thing moved like a slug and was so loud... it backfired in the parking lot the morning I had told Bella I needed a little space and she had exploded about how I hated her and was going to leave her because I didn't think she was good enough for me. I had to resist the urge to call her a drama queen and sighed as I got out of the truck to greet Alice.

Alice seemed distracted, not that Bella noticed or seemed to care. She started walking to school and I noticed 5 teenagers I'd never seen before. The first I noticed was a boy with unruly jet black hair, in faded black jeans and a black t-shirt with what looked like some sort of brightly coloured cartoon design and a gray jacket. He was writing furiously on a paper pad as he walked towards us. The next was a boy with white blonde hair and silver eyes that whispered "Are you sure about this?" and kept pace with the boy. He was wearing a white button up shirt rolled up to his elbows with a loose black tie and faded blue jeans. Something the boy wrote sparked something in his eyes making him look fiercer.

Behind the writing boy was a tall red head boy with freckles. He was wearing simple black jeans and a t-shirt with a black jacket over it while his head was inclined slightly to read what the boy was writing. There were two girls in the group, the shorter of the two had a mystical feel to her that reminded me of Alice and she was wearing a long sleeve teal sweater that went halfway down her thighs where a red skirt went to her knees and purple tights covered the rest. Her white blond hair looked vaguely like the other boy's. The other girl had shoulder length tamed curly brown hair with a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans and a beige jacket.

The brown haired girl hissed the name Harry and the boy holding the paper pad wrote something again. Was he Harry? The girl gasped and whispered "You know?" What did he know? I felt panic rush through me and I searched their minds for answers but found that their minds were confusing to read and the writing boy had no thoughts at all, just like Bella.

She kept pace with him as he continued to write but he didn't even look at the page. He was looking Alice in the eyes as he approached her. "They won't do us harm," the blonde girl whispered mysteriously, the way she spoke and the way she looked when she said that reminded me instantly of Alice, "They're just as curious. We act oddly." Other than the writing boy the teens looked confused by her words. I was shocked by her words.

I glanced at Alice. 'She's a seer,' she thought and I nodded.

The redhead and the blond started bickering but the writing boy wrote something, ripped the page out and slammed it into the blonde's chest who then passed it to the redhead.

Alice reached them and began talking in an excited tone, "Hello, I'm Alice Cullen, you must be the new students, the ones adopted by our new chemistry teacher?" she asked with a pixy smile. I had heard of the new Chemistry teacher and I knew that he had kids, but I hadn`t realized these were the ones.

The brown haired girl smiled and began talking when the boy who had been writing nudged her subtly. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger. This is Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Ron Weasely and Harry Potter." She motioned to each of them as she spoke. Each child said a pleasant greeting but the boy, Harry, bowed his head slightly and began to write. I noticed then that under a fringe of hair was an odd light bolt shaped scar, he also had other scars that were all over his skin that were healing and starting to fade. He also had a bruise on his cheek. He reminded me oddly of Jasper.

Hermione leaned over to read what Harry said, "Harry says hi and it's nice to meet you, you'll have to excuse him. He's mute." He smiled at us and I saw Alice look surprised for once. I wondered why. Shouldn't she have known that?

"Oh, well it's very nice to meet you too, Harry. This is Edward Cullen and Bella Swan." Alice introduced us.

The boy wrote quickly and flipped his paper over and I read his oddly elegant writing. _Nice to meet you all, do you mind showing us to the office?_

Alice giggled, "Sure, right this way."

Bella looked annoyed that Alice was paying attention to the new family and seemed ticked that I wasn't focusing on her either. I kept my annoyance inside and tried to ignore it as we entered the office. Inside was a man that if I was human I would speculate him being a vampire or a wealthy business man. He was dressed in an all black suit and I noticed the kids seemed to relax around him and I noticed Harry write the word _snazzy_ on his paper pad for him to see, causing the others to chuckle.

The man looked like he was restraining a smile and laugh and said, "Tone down the cheek, Harry. I can give you detention." Harry raised an eyebrow at him and he gave Harry a stern look back. The man turned his attention to the rest of the teens. "Morning children, here are your schedules. I tried to arrange for you to have a class with at least one of your siblings, Harry, but you have biology without any of them, I apologize for the inconvenience." The man said, highly formal.

I wondered for a moment if it was the same class as the one I have. I smiled when I read what Harry asked the man who was obviously his adopted father, _how did you know I wouldn't want to take physics or chem.? Secondly, why didn't you put me in chem. anyways? I would figure the new evil chem. teacher would enjoy torturing his students._

The man, Mr. Snape I assumed, smirked, "Harry, your math is atrocious and you despise chemistry and frankly I didn't want your cheeky butt in my class." I smiled, I liked his bluntness.

Harry let out an eerie silent laugh. His face was alight with joy, but... the silence was like a stab to the other five in the family watching him. They kept brave faces but I could tell the silence of his laugh hurt them.

Mr. Snape smiled; it seemed he was pleased that he made Harry happy. "Wait, so you let him off the hook and you get me stuck in chemistry with these two nerds?" Ron asked staring at Severus with his mouth slightly open in surprise.

Mr. Snape smiled, "Oh Ronald, you know, this is going to be a fun year. Whereas you're just as terrible as Harry at chemistry, you aren't nearly as snarky or rebellious in class. Welcome to hell, you dunderhead," Ron stood there with his mouth opening and closing for a couple seconds.

Mr. Snape turned his attention to us, he seemed to examine Alice and I for a moment before he relaxed. "Good morning, might I ask as to who you all are?" he asked his face a mask of no emotion.

We introduced ourselves again and he nodded, "Well, thank you for guiding these ruffians to the office." He gave Harry a smirk and he rolled his eyes, "Now off to class all of you." Mr. Snape said abruptly and walked off. I caught the small smile on his lips as he left the room.

"Come on, Harry, we've got the same morning classes," Draco said grabbing the boy's arm. Harry nodded and quickly wrote _see you guys around_ to us and hurried off with Draco.

I headed to class with Bella, she talked non-stop about whatever came to her scatterbrain mind and I heard it but didn't really think about it. She caught me not really paying attention a few times but I brushed it off. When lunch break came around I walked down the hall, I felt guilty that I had managed to ditch Bella, saying I was going to the bathroom and practically disappearing but I needed to think. I couldn't stop thinking about Harry. He was so strange to me. His mind was completely silent and he didn't say a word. I wondered if he had a voice in his head or mind at all. I kept trying to get into his head to see what he was thinking, to give some sort of clue what was going through his head but I kept drawing a blank. I sighed and decided to give it a rest for now and went to meet Alice and Bella in the cafeteria.

I pretended to listen to Bella as she talked and I noticed Alice's attention was somewhere else. The five new kids entered the cafeteria with Jessica and I noticed that she was more interested in Draco, Hermione, Ron and Luna than in Harry. He pulled out some sort of MP3 player and turned it on while he waited in line.

I smiled at his different choices of music. I rather liked a few of the songs. I noticed he piled on a smaller amount of food than normal and mouthed words to the songs. I noticed Draco lean over and whisper in Harry's ear, "I wish you would sing. I recall you had a pretty good voice."

Harry seemed to shut down. He went tense and stopped mouthing the words. I felt extremely protective right then. I didn't to do anything though because Draco leaned down and whispered, "I apologize, Harry. I didn't mean to upset you. Forgive me?" a few seconds after. Harry seemed to accept the apology and cringed at the noise of the table they approached after paying. Draco seemed to notice as well; "We can sit somewhere else..." he trailed off. Harry wrote something and Draco whispered, "As if I want to be friends with these people, please, Harry, you know me."

I noticed then that Luna was watching us so I looked away and noticed Bella giving me an annoyed look. "Edward, can you not focus on me for two seconds?" she asked in annoyance.

"Bella, not every second off my existence has to be devoted to you," I snapped.

"Well, you never pay attention to me. Do you hate me? Is that what it is?" Bella asked her eyes tearing up.

"For the love of-" I was cut off when I heard a strange raspy noise followed by a cough. I realized Harry was trying to speak. I caught the word _satisfied?_ on his paper pad.

"Edward, hello, Earth to Edward..." Bella said annoyed, "What is it about them that's so freaking interesting?" she asked sounding frustrated.

"Well maybe they aren't completely possessive..." Alice said low enough that Bella couldn't hear. I ignored her.

"I don't know. Why do you care? Am I not allowed to be interested in anything but you now?" I asked getting annoyed.

Bella looked like I slapped her. The words of Jessica distracted me. "Personally I think they're just trying to gather more kids for Mrs. Cullen to adopt. She adopted them all except Bella, who's the Chief police officer's daughter in town, but I think she just adopted them because she can't have kids."

Alice and I immediately tensed and my anger flared even more. I heard hurried writing and glanced over at Harry writing furiously before slamming the paper on the table and gathering his stuff and leaving. Draco suddenly stood up and leaned down close to her face. At this point the whole cafeteria seemed to be looking at them. His voice was thick with anger and malice. "You really are a stupid girl. Stop making up stories about people and think before you speak. I grew up in abusive home and Harry's an orphan who because of his living situation can't even tell you the shit he's been through because he can't _fucking talk_. We would have killed to live under better conditions, so the next time you think about belittling someone who genuinely cares about those kids, you should think that maybe there are people who would have done anything to be in that sort of environment."

He gave her a glare that would have frightened any human to their core, grabbed his bag and hurried out with his siblings after Harry.

Bella turned abruptly and glared at me, "As I was saying... where are you going?" She asked me as I got up.

"For a walk," she started to get up so I clarified, "_Alone_," and left the cafeteria. I admit, it hurt seeing the hurt in her eyes, but she was driving me insane. I set about finding Mr. Harry Potter. I wanted to have a word with him.

I found him rather quickly through scent. He was sitting outside on one of the picnic benches with his head in his hands. I tried to see into his mind and came up with more blanks. He suddenly looked up and made a strange choking noise before he gave a ragged cough and I was kind of surprised and I felt concerned. He held up a finger for me to wait as he fished out his paper pad. He started writing quickly and when he turned it around I felt as if someone had dropped a weight into my stomach.

_You! You're the one who has been trying to get into my head and don't look so damn surprised. I know exactly what you are and, for Merlin's sake, don't freak out. We're not here to disrupt your life or something. We're just here to start a new life._

I was kind of surprised, and yet not really at the same time, but I had to ask. "You have a way of keeping me out?"

_Yeah, and you trying to get in is giving me a headache_, he wrote. He had an interesting look on his face when he wrote things. He would bite his lip as if he was thinking hard or concentrating intensely on something.

"So why not just let me in?" I asked calmly. I wasn't really ashamed to admit that I wanted into his head. I really, really did. He was a fascinating person and the way his pen stood frozen on the piece of paper told me he was thinking about it. He closed those beautiful green eyes and I suddenly was hit with his voice within his head. His voice was so musical, so beautiful. I could imagine the most beautiful lullabies being made from that voice and all he said was 'because no one is allowed in,' before there was silence again.

I stood there quiet for a bit. I felt I was going insane. Bella was getting on my nerves and now this boy shows up and I can't stop thinking about him. What is wrong with me! I said the first thing that came to my mind. "You have a nice voice. It's a shame you can't speak."

Harry swallowed and looked at his hands. His actions were indescribably cute. 'There's nothing wrong my voice... I just... don't want to talk... it's gotten to the point where to matter how hard I try I can't speak.'

That came as a small surprise but it worried me too. What had caused him to not want to talk? Was it the abuse Draco spoke about? I was so worried about him and I hated myself for it. "Why?" I asked and even to me I sounded concerned.

The second the word escaped my mouth Harry's mind was silenced and I knew I had said the wrong thing. When he got up I panicked, worried I'd hurt his feelings so I spoke quickly. "Wait, Harry, I apologize. I didn't mean to make you upset."

He wrote for a second, ripped out the paper and handed it to me. The words _well you did_ stung me as he left and I felt like I had stabbed my own heart. What was wrong with me? What was wrong with him? Why was I so hurt and worried? I felt so frustrated and confused and I just wanted to get some answers but I knew no one had them.

I sighed as I listened to Draco call to Harry. I felt anger rise in me when he asked if I had hurt him. As if I could ever hurt anyone like Harry. Harry was unbelievably good, I didn't know that for sure but I could feel it. I could not see a single flaw in him. Even his muteness, it wasn't a flaw, how could it be? He was just more amazing and interesting with it and if he grew to talk I would treasure that voice like it was a gift from heaven...

What am I saying! I'm talking like I'm in love with him! I've only known him for less than a day! I shook my head. I must get my thoughts straight. I was with Bella. I loved... I loved... Bella. Yes, she's my... my mate. I love... loved Bella. I must remove all thoughts of Harry from my mind.

I caught the words "I know the rules," from Draco. That confused me. What rules? Why did it seem like Draco treated Harry like his leader and his friend more than the others? I shook my head.

I reprehended myself. All thoughts of Harry must leave my mind. Bella's the only important one. I loved Bella... she's my mate... right?


	4. Chapter 3

**A gift to you all, welcome back to school (for those of us who are still in it... whoo! go grade 12! This year is going to be intense!)**

**Chapter 3**

**(Harry's POV)**

I walked into the class and gave the teacher my slip saying I was in his class. "Hmm, well, I believe we had a student drop out the class, she was uninterested, and between you and me, she wasn't very good this year. Last year she did fabulously, but this year... I don't know what happened..." The teacher shrugged. "You can sit over there; it's the only free seat." I nodded. "Not much of a talker, huh?" the teacher said frowning.

I smiled and pulled out my paper pad. _I'm sorry; I guess Severus forgot to mention on the slip that I'm mute. I hope it won't be much of a problem. I'll just ask or answer questions through my paper pad, if that's alright..._

The teacher looked at the slip again, "I really ought to start reading these things," he chuckled. "I need new glasses, I apologize. So you're one of Severus' boys? He seems nice enough..." he said trailing off.

I let out a silent chuckle and wrote. _Yes, I am, the only one who's not forced to take Chemistry so you probably won't see much of us unfortunately, and by the way you trailed off there I know by 'nice enough' you mean 'evil snarky bastard.' It's okay though, he's just that way when he first meets people. He'll probably warm up those in the science department sooner rather than later. He's far too interested in science to do otherwise._ I showed him and he laughed as he read so I knew I hit my mark right.

"I think I'm going to enjoy you in my class, Harry. Please take your seat," he said motioning to the back table that remained unoccupied for now.

I smiled and went and sat down at that table and took out my books. I didn't notice who was coming to sit next to me. I knew I'd have to pay attention in this class to get good grades... not only because I wasn't sure if I was good at biology but because I sort of wanted to make Severus proud of me. I knew it was a silly notion, but Sirius was gone now and Remus had been killed in battle, I didn't have any father figures left to rely on. Sirius never cared about grades and Remus was so accepting of everything... Severus was pretty accepting but he cared very much for grades and there was still the fact that he used to act like he hated me. I couldn't help but want to make my new father figure happy with me.

I started drawing a snitch as I waited for class to start. "Harry, I really am really sorry," Edward's voice floated into my ears and I looked up to see Edward Cullen sitting next to me.

I sighed and flipped the page and wrote. _I guess you're forgiven... I'm sorry for overreacting._ I don't think I could stand a whole class of him pestering me to be forgiven.

"It's no problem. If you want you can write your questions there and I'll ask Mr. Banner for you." Edward suggested looking relaxed since I accepted his apology.

I smiled, _that's a very nice thing for you to do. Thank you._

Edward chuckled softly and scratched the back of his head, "No problem."

I smiled and shook my head as I looked away. 'Some people are just socially awkward, I guess it's because everyone here is afraid of him and his vampire-ness.'

Through class I did have a fair few questions and Edward asked them all for me, of course he always started the question with 'Harry would like to ask' but that was fine... A few students looked thankful, for me wasting class time I guess, and a few looked angered at me though. I almost stopped writing questions because of it... or at least hiding the list so I could ask him later but Edward leaned over and whispered, "Don't stop asking questions because people find it annoying or whatever. A lot of these kids have the same questions but are too shy to say them." I smiled, thankful to know that that was the reason for the thankful looks and kept asking. I wondered how he'd read my mind without actually reading it.

I asked him so and he just smiled and wrote _practice, I can't read my girlfriend's mind either_, he wrote and I got curious.

_Bella?_ I wrote and he nodded slightly. I closed my eyes and searched for her mind. Severus was surprised I was so good at Legilimency and Occlumency after we stopped screaming at each other. I searched the minds at school for Bella. I found a mind that was blank; it's typical of those doing Occlumency. You know they're there but you can't hear them.

Once I pinpointed her I started to dig my way into her mind. I knew it would hurt a little, but I was far too curious, and she would just think it was a headache. Immediately after I made it into her mind I opened mine for Edward to hear.

'Stupid Harry fucking Potter, what about him fascinates Edward so much? I mean he's kind of good looking I guess, but I mean come on, obviously he's gay so Edward obviously isn't interested in him. It's not fair! He's going to become his friend, I know it, and then he won't want to spend time with me! Edward is mine. He can't leave me. I guess I can always get rid of Harry if he starts posing a problem...'

I cut myself off there, I opened my eyes and I knew I looked dazed and I didn't even look at Edward. I just wrote a sign to use the bathroom and raised my hand, after getting permission to go to the bathroom I rushed there and stood leaning against the sink and breathing hard. This was not happening. I couldn't believe I just heard that. First of all, how the bloody hell did she know I was gay? Was she just being mean in her head? Second of all, Edward was dating a girl like _that_? I don't even like being in the same room as people like that! Third of all, this girl just thought about getting rid of me! What is wrong with the world? Trouble just never lets me go!

"Harry?" Ron's voice startled me so bad I jumped and backed away a step. "Harry, jeez, are you okay? Severus sent me a mental thing to go to the bathroom to check on you. Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

I checked my pockets and realized I forgot my paper pad. I opened my mouth and tried to tell him out loud but all that came out was a raspy noise. I soon grew very frustrated and just launched myself into my first friend's arms. He seemed surprised but hugged me back tightly as I shook. "Do you need to see Severus? There are only like five minutes left in class." Ron whispered rubbing my back and I nodded my eyes full to tears but they wouldn't fall. I rubbed my eyes, trying to get my eyes to stop watering. When the bell rang we went to Severus' class and when it emptied Severus shut the door with the four of us in his class and Severus lent me a paper and pen to tell him what happened.

Severus nodded, "Harry, relax, just go back to class, grab your things and go to your next class. What class is it?"

"Gym," Draco said, "We all have at the same time, with the younger years too so Luna as well."

"Alright, tell her what happened, I'm sure she knows, but still," he said and shoed us from the class.

Draco and Hermione accompanied me back to class while Ron went ahead to tell Luna before class. I walked into class and my eyes widened when I saw my stuff gone. "Oh, Harry, don't worry about your stuff, Edward took it with him because you have the same class next."

I nodded and smiled in thanks. "Thank you, professor," Draco and Hermione said at the same time and led me from the room, leaving behind an impressed looking teacher and a bunch of surprised looking students.

Heading to gym we entered and Luna and Ron were talking to what looked like the gym teacher. "Oh there they are, Coach Clapp this is Hermione, Draco and Harry," Luna said motioning to each of us. They began to explain my condition again to him and I looked around for Edward. I didn't realize how dependant I was on my paper pad before but now I was having a hard time not being able to convey to the others what was going on.

Edward saw me across the gym and got up, I noticed he was carrying my bag, notebook and pen and I instantly brightened. I mean, I felt horrible about the whole Bella thing, but I was glad to have my stuff back. He handed my stuff to me, I slipped my notebook and pen in one of my many pockets with a small smile before he looked over my shoulder slightly, turned and walked away. A second later Bella Swan was at my side and I looked up at her, my eyes fearless.

"Hi Harry," she said nicely, she put an arm around me and said, "How's it going? Good? Fantastic." I swallowed hard, wondering what she wanted. "Listen, I know you're new so you don't know how things work but Edward is kind of out of bounds, you know? He's really in love with me and frankly you're annoying him by hanging around him so much. I mean, no offense, but you're a hassle to take care of, what with the whole mute thing. So-" I didn't let her continue. For some reason her words stabbed my heart worse than any others had.

It wasn't only because she was talking about Edward, no; she technically was also talking about everyone in my life. The words 'you're a hassle to take care of, what with the whole mute thing' were ringing in my ears and I couldn't help but think of Luna, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Severus. Was I really a hassle to take care of? Did they hate taking care of me sometimes?

I felt my face crumple slightly in pain and pulled away roughly. Across the gym I could see Edward and Alice staring at us with their mouths open as if they had both heard the most shocking thing they'd ever heard. Draco, Luna, Hermione and Ron were starting towards us because they could see my pained expression.

As I glared at her I fumbled for my paper pad but I couldn't find it. Enraged, I could only think of one way to convey my emotions. Tears streaming down my face, I reached back a hand and backhanded her across the face. Now the whole gym was staring at us as my slap had made a loud noise and everyone was completely silent and no one moved a muscle. I shook my head at her, glaring and yet feeling as if she'd just stabbed me in the heart, tears trailing down my cheeks and ran from the room.

I heard several people call my name but none of them mattered. I was sobbing openly by the time I'd reached the parking lot but soon decided I didn't want to sulk in the car. I went to the picnic table I had been at before and wrapped my arms around my legs and let out my almost soundless sobs. Every once in a while you could hear a strange rasping, wheezing, choking sound escape my throat.

"Harry," Alice's soft voice reached my ears and I coughed and wiped my eyes and looked up at her. "Oh, Harry, I am so, so, so, _so _sorry," she said rushing over and sitting next to me.

I sniffled and wiped my eyes. I searched my pockets for my paper pad and she smiled and pulled it out of my left jacket pocket. "Here," she said smiling, "The joys of knowing what will happen next." She said it like it was no big deal to tell me. I guess she knew I already suspected she could tell the future and Edward probably told her about our conversation.

I looked at her and smiled, a small part of my mind was dancing around saying 'I knew it!' but I kept that to myself. _Thank you_ I wrote before I broke into sobs again. She gathered me into her arms and rocked me slightly. _You don't think I'm a hassle do you?_ I asked her biting my lip. I had written so sloppily that I was surprised she could read it.

Her eyes filled with a combination of sympathy, compassion and anger. "Harry, I would never consider you a hassle or burden or _anything_ of the sort, and I know your family feels the same." She said honesty in her eyes.

I gave her a wobbly, watery smile and hugged her. I pointed at the previous _thank you_ and she smiled. "Between you and me," Alice whispered as she leaned in, "That slap was long overdue."

I smiled and rubbed my eyes. _I do feel kind of horrible about that... I mean... I'm supposed to be past that part of my life._ I wrote staring off into space, thinking of my past battles.

"Which part?" she asked softly, her cold arm still around me, her hand rubbed my arm as I wrote without thinking. _The fighting for a chance to have a life part, the fighting my friends and enemies part, the war part, the scared part,_ was all I wrote and I looked at her to see her just staring at the words. She looked up at me and I smiled slightly before a few more tears escaped my eyes. She gave me an encouraging look and held me. We just sat there all class. No one came looking for me and I was glad. Alice just sat with me and made me feel better.

Near the end of the class I wrote my last few questions. _Do you think Edward thinks I'm a hassle/burden? Do you think she's right? Do you think he thinks I'm annoying?_ I asked and sniffled.

Alice shook her head like she was disappointed in something, or someone. "Harry, I know for a fact that Edward adores you. He would never consider helping a friend to be any sort to trouble, he's too selfless for that, and I don't think she's right at all. As for if you're annoying," Alice rolled her eyes and smiled. "You're not. I for one think you're a very kind, sweet person and are far, very, very far from annoying, and Edward feels the same. Don't listen to Bella... ever. She's a jealous witch with a capital B." Alice said glaring off into the distance. "I would watch yourself around her... she can be... vicious... but don't worry. If Edward ever brings her over my older sister will kill her for what she said to you."

I stared at her in alarm and surprise. _Older sister?_ I asked and she nodded, "Adopted older sister. Rosalie doesn't like Bella too much. We have all liked Bella on some degree at some point but Rosalie has never liked Bella, at all."

I paused trying to think of the right way to say what I was asking. _Does she not like something about her? Would she like me for instance? Or my family? Or any of the other Mug- _I quickly erased the beginning of Muggles but Alice stopped me.

"Let's just say Rose has had a tough past. Bella's gotten everything she's ever wanted and Rosalie hates that she just gets everything just like that. It's almost her way of saying that she can't have everything she wants. She can't get Rosalie to like her. She doesn't really like any humans here." Alice said and smiled knowingly. I smiled back, okay so she definitely knew I wasn't human, "But, I have a feeling that she'd like your family, especially Draco. He's pessimistic, witty and vane enough for her to contend with." I let out a round of silent laugher and she grinned. "Jasper, Rose's older brother and my boyfriend, would love you all I think, and Emmett, my older brother and Rose's boyfriend, would be positively in love with all you." She said grinning, "Actually, would you and your siblings like to come over after school?"

I frowned biting my lip. _Would Bella be there?_ I asked and Alice looked thoughtful for a moment, "Not that I can see."

I smiled, _okay then... I'll have to talk to Severus and the others but I would like that..._ I wrote trailing off as the bell rang causing me to jump. Alice smiled at me and rubbed my back. _I better go talk to them, want to come with me? _I asked her and she smiled and nodded. She looped her arm through mine and we walked through the halls to Severus' classroom. I knew my eyes were red from crying but the way that Alice held her head high, and I was almost embarrassed to say I was only a few inches taller than her, made me feel more confident as we walked. We ignored the other students and made it into his classroom.

"Good afternoon Mr. Snape." Alice said politely.

He smiled at her before noticing my bloodshot eyes. "What happened?" he demanded, all his students had left so none were lingering around to hear the juicy gossip this would turn out to be.

"Well," Alice started, his attention turned to her and I nodded, silently telling her to continue for me. "Ms. Bella Swan said some... not so nice things to Harry during gym class-"

"Get to the point Ms. Cullen," Severus snapped coldly.

Alice smiled slightly. It was clear Severus' love and care for his children amused her greatly, "In short, Bella was threatened by Harry's friendship with my brother, Edward, and told him to stop annoying Edward by hanging out with him and that he's a hassle to take care of and be friends with so Harry slapped her, I assume because he couldn't find his note pad," she glanced at me and I nodded, showing that she assumption was right. "In my opinion that slap was the long overdue and correct action, and then Harry left the gym crying. The whole class was in an up-roar. Edward was mad at Bella for saying that when I left, and your other children had to be held back from attacking her by Coach Clapp, our teacher, and other students. I don't know the outcome of the situation because I slipped out to find Harry. I believe Luna and Hermione were trying to go out and find Harry but Coach Clapp wasn't letting them at that current time as to keep as much order as possible." Alice said all this quickly but clearly. "I would like to also request if Harry and the others would like to come over to my house to hang out. Bella won't be there. Edward might, but I am unsure on that as of yet. A seer can't see all," she said the last part quietly and Severus looked almost impressed but hid it well.

"Alright, Harry, we will talk about this later. Would you like to go?" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and I smiled and nodded excitedly. His lip twitched upwards. "Alright, go talk to your siblings and be home by 5 alright?" Severus said and I grinned and nodded before grabbing Alice's hand and pulling her towards the door. She giggled and followed me, leaving Severus standing their shaking his head.

"Do you need anything from your locker?" She asked me and I shook my head. "Should we go meet the others by your car?" she asked and I nodded. We headed there and I saw my siblings waiting there with Edward leaning against our car with a dark expression on his face. As soon as Luna saw me she took off running towards me and the other soon followed. She tackled me in a hug and the others followed suit exclaiming so many things I couldn't hear them all.

Alice giggled, "Give him some room to breathe," she grinned and I smiled at her.

"Harry, we were so worried about you. Are you okay?" Ron asked and I smiled and nodded.

Draco looked downright pissed off so I gave him a hug. _I'm okay Draco. I'm over it. I'm okay with it. Don't be angry._ I wrote and showed him. He smiled slightly and hugged me. He sighed and said, "Yeah, I know, but you shouldn't have to be okay with it," he said glaring at a certain girl getting into her truck.

I smiled slightly and wrote_ you can't protect me from everything. We're not in war anymore. Everyone isn't a threat anymore. I'm going to be okay._

He swallowed as he read. I knew Draco blamed himself for a lot of things; after all he was my official guard for nearly every situation. "I know, I'm sorry," he leaned down and lowered his voice to whisper in my ear, "But clearly, you're not okay with everything. Your voice is evidence of that."

I straightened up slightly, I was aware of the others watching us and I gave him a stern look. _That may be so... but just let me heal myself this time._ I wrote and looked into those silver eyes. I underlined my previous words._ I'm going to be okay._

Draco closed his eyes. I knew this was hard on him. We had always helped fix each other; for me to ask for him to let me help myself was hard to accept. I touched his arm briefly before turning to Edward. I smiled at him and waved. He smiled and waved back. "So you guys are coming over?" he asked and I looked at the others. They looked hesitant. I sent them a pleading look before I smiled and nodded.

"I'll go," Luna said instantly which sparked the others to agree. I grinned and Edward and Alice looked happy. "We'll follow you in the car," Luna said pulling Hermione towards the car and we all piled in and I noticed Bella sulking in her car as Edward and Alice got into their car and drove away, with us following.

I was sitting up in the passenger seat and I closed my eyes as I listened to the song on the radio. I closed my eyes and mouthed the words to the song, it was a calm relaxing song and in a way it was one of the only ones that calmed me down because it was true to my life and I smiled as I listened. It was one of the only songs that made me wish I had a voice so I could sing to it.

We drove down a long driveway where trees were on either side and came to a large white house. I smiled at it; it was larger than most but had an older feel to it. We parked beside Edward and Alice and we all got out. _Nice house_ I showed them, I written it in the car and Edward smiled and thanked me.

"Thanks for inviting us over," Hermione said smiling.

"No problem Hermione, we wanted to get to know you," she said grinning as well. "Come on, the others will want to meet you." She grabbed Luna's and Hermione's hands and pulled them towards the door.

"She gets excited when we have guests," Edward explained with a small smile.

"So..." Ron started awkwardly.

"What are you going to do about your girlfriend?" Draco demanded right off the bat and I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose as I shook my head.

_Draco_ I started writing but Edward shook his head at me. "No need Harry. Draco, what Bella said was inexcusable. She's been on my nerves for a while now, so I told her that if she does one more thing, no matter how big or small, to annoy me or hurt my friends, for the record, I consider Harry and his family my friends, that we are over."

The three of us looked at each other and then back at Edward. "Isn't that a tad harsh?" Ron asked.

"Not by my standards," Draco said slightly more relaxed. He looked at Ron and said to him, "Ron, you were not ever in charge of Harry's well-being during any time of the war, and you most certainly are not now, that doesn't even enter the realm of the thought of 'harsh.'" Draco said his eyes sharp silver.

I sighed frustrated. I felt anger grow in me. My past memories were ganging up on me. Torture was flashing behind my eyelids. Death was smirking at my misery and Voldemort stood in the middle of a battlefield of burning bodies with his raspy voice laughing because he knew I was weak.

"Yeah, because you did such a fantastic job," Ron said shoving Draco's shoulder. "You're the one who got him kidnapped and if it wasn't for that Harry would be able to speak. People died because Harry was locked away in some God forsaken cell! Harry would have been able to get rid of You-Know-Who-"

"What? Are you too afraid to speak the name of the man who killed your family? He took mine from me too, Ron," Draco growled.

I let out a shuddering breath, the smallest hiss of a word on my lips. I looked at Edward, desperate for a saviour, but no one saved the saviour. We were meant to suffer alone. I made the sound of a stuttering S but that's all I got. Edward looked at me with concern and I knew he was about to interrupt them but they were already starting to yell at each other. They weren't going to stop 'til it was out of their system.

"Yours killed mine!" Ron screamed at Draco.

"And if you recall I pulled you from the rubble!" Draco shouted at him. Edward's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he stared back and forth between them. The others in the Cullen family exited the house with Luna and Hermione who looked disappointed that the boys were fighting again.

"Oh, thank you so much for saving me, Draco Malfoy." Ron said throwing his hands in the air, tears in his eyes. "I bet it's because you felt guilty your father was the one to torch my home and kill everyone inside it but me. You were only in it because Harry saved you and you felt obliged to help him."

"Harry is my friend just as much as he is yours," Draco said looking ready to hex Ron. Ron had a vein popping out of the side of his head in anger.

"Yeah, after he saved you from becoming one of them and got caught for it," Ron said glaring. "How does it feel to know that Harry was tortured into silence because you were too weak to defend yourself from your father?" Ron growled getting right up in Draco's face. I saw Draco swallow and his face broke as he let his pain show slightly.

My hands shot up to cover my ears and I screamed as loudly as I could. Everyone turned to look at me. My family looked shocked and amazed while the Cullens looked merely surprised. "Stop!" I screamed tears in my eyes as I felt my knees buckle. "Please, please stop," I whimpered just before I was caught by cold arms. I squeezed my eyes shut against the images bombarding my brain and clutched Edward's shirt. I wasn't sure how I knew it was him but I just did.

I thought of home and how I wanted to be home and knew there was only one thing to do, I Apparated home. Back at the Cullen residence, my one pop was quickly followed by four more.

I landed on my bed and crumpled onto it, sobbing my heart out as I heard four more pops followed by the four of them calling my name. I cried out in agony, gripping my head as I was assaulted by the images.

The Draco, Ron and Hermione burst into my room followed closely by Severus who Luna was speaking to quickly. "Harry, Harry, what do you need?" Draco asked wide eyed.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I'm sorry," Ron sobbed.

"Harry, come on, tell me what you need. Silence? Paper? A pen? Anything?" Hermione asked and started to do medical scans.

I could remember everything so vividly and every time someone touched me I screamed and I suddenly was unable to move. I screamed louder as I tried to get out of my magical binds and I heard Severus shoo the others out of the room.

Eventually I calmed down with his soothing and I was left just gasping and hiccupping for air. "Harry," Severus whispered and I felt the binds lifted and I sat up and hugged him tightly. He hugged me back and rubbed my back.

I groaned, I could hear his laugh mocking me in my head and the weeks of torture... all he had said and did to ruin everything I had was creeping back on me. I opened my mouth a few times before the word finally escaped, "Hurts," I whispered in a croak so quietly it was like a whistle in the wind.

"I know," Severus said holding me tighter, "You and I need to talk about it though."

"Can't," I whispered, "Hurts too much."

"Why does it hurt?" Severus asked, "It's over."

"Never over," I replied squeezing my eyes shut.

"Did he curse you in some way to make the pain last?" Severus asked concern flashing across his face. I shook my head. "What is it then? What is it that hurts you?"

"Memories, they hurt," I breathed, "And..." I trailed off. I couldn't say it, not only because I couldn't stand my voice, it was rough and his laughter was echoing loudly in my head making me feel dizzy and nauseous.

"What is it Harry? Tell me," he said softly rubbing my back.

"He's won," was all I said, more tears escaped my eyes.

"How?" the question was simple but the answer wasn't entirely.

"He knows." I whispered staring off into the distance. Severus pulled away and saw me just staring far away. I could see those red eyes looking up at me with knowledge.

"Know what?"

"I can't...," I swallowed. "He knows I'm..." I was silent for a long time and Severus never prompted me. "Weak," I whispered at last.

"Weak how?" Severus asked as tears filled my eyes once again.

"Can't kill," I whispered and hung my head, "Couldn't kill him."

Severus suddenly hugged me tightly and I held onto him. "Harry, none of us here would ever ask you to kill. I would never ask you to kill. I never want you to kill." He held my face in his hands. "Harry, we _love _you. We're _glad_ you didn't kill him. Let another man kill him, but not _this_ man," he poked me in the chest. "To us it was never your job to kill him; it wasn't even your job to fight."

I smiled and hugged him tightly. "I can't... speak though... every time I hear my voice I can hear his in my head telling me how weak I am."

"What he takes as weakness I consider a strength," Severus said confidently. "Now tell me about the things that took place today." I rubbed my eyes and began to explain it all to him. I think he noticed that I was beginning to become uncomfortable hearing my voice again after a while so he decided to call our talk to an end. He held me tightly before leaving. "We'll talk about your memories another time, okay? I'm glad we had this talk. Get some sleep while I talk to the others." He said and actually tucked me in and kissed my forehead before leaving. I let sleep claim me.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**(Edward's POV)**

As I held Harry in my arms I couldn't help but notice how he fit so perfectly in mine. His face was contorted with pain and his eyes were squeezed shut but he still looked beautiful. The way he gripped my shirt like a lifeline made me smile slightly, I felt like I was doing something important for him.

It felt like in a small way I was saving him from the horrors of his past... and all of a sudden he was gone with a pop. His siblings suddenly all shouted his name. "Whoa! Where'd he go?" Emmett boomed and Luna and Hermione bolted down the stairs.

"Home?" Draco asked and the others nodded. Instead of getting in the car, like I would have thought they would have gotten into, they were all gone with several pops.

I looked at my family, all were present except Carlisle who was at work and they all looked surprised except Alice. "Well... how do you like our new friends?" I asked with a smile and Emmett and Jasper laughed while the girls rolled their eyes.

Alice turned to Rosalie and Esme and began telling them about Harry and all the things he'd been through just today. I could tell Alice would make them love him in no time. Emmett and Jasper came down to meet me and Jasper patted me on the back, "How's the whirlwind of emotions?" He asked. "What is it that's got you so... twisted?"

I shook my head, "Harry Potter has confused every single thought and emotion. I can't stand Bella anymore. She's just driving me insane and I feel horrible every time I ignore him for her, but when I'm with Harry..."

"You feel complete?" Emmett asked sighing.

"You feel accepted and loved even thought you don't know how you could?" Jasper said staring off into the distance.

I smiled slightly. "Yeah," I sighed. I frowned, "How did you know?" I asked them.

The two looked at each other and grinned, "Just a guess," was their answer but both their thoughts said 'he found his mate.'

I chose to ignore that for now…. I put my head in my hands, "I don't know what to do."

Jasper patted my back, "Relax, he'll come to you in due time. Just let everything go as it normally does for right now and then eventually you'll have him back in your arms," he said grinning.

"I hope you're right," I muttered.

"Of course he is," Emmett scoffed, "Now go check on lover-boy."

I gave a small huff and glared at them before looking at the car they had left behind. "I'll just... drive it over to his house," he said getting in, thanking that the keys were still in the ignition and starting up the car and headed for the rumoured house of Harry and his family. It was the only house sold to someone in town in months. Pretty much everyone knew where they lived.

I parked their car and walked up the steps to give the keys back to them. Just before knocking I could hear the soft voice of Mr. Snape saying to someone to get some sleep while he talked to 'the others.' I shook my head wondering who he had been speaking to and knocked softly.

Hermione pulled the door open quickly. "Hi Edward," she said breathlessly. "Sorry for taking off like we did, the boys tend to argue a lot and it often triggers Harry to have breakdowns... I know you must have some questions..." Hermione said slowly and I glanced behind her to see Mr. Snape walk down the stairs and give me an almost dark look. Clearly he wasn't too happy with me.

I smiled slightly, "Actually I brought your car," I said motioning to the where it was parked, "Here's the keys," I said and handed them to her and she smiled, "But I do have just a few questions... but only if you're comfortable answering them."

Mr. Snape came up behind Hermione and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump, "Merlin, Sev, make some noise, a cough, some _breathing_, anything," Hermione feigned annoyance all the while smiling softly.

He smirked slightly, "I'll consider it," he allowed, Hermione rolled her eyes with a small smile and walked back into the house. "Mr. Cullen, I understand that you are probably curious as to the events that took place today, but seeing as I have been told all of the events from today, I assume you are not the only one with questions," Mr. Snape said with an air of coldness.

"Yeah, actually, seeing a bunch of teenagers just disappear into thin air does that...," I saw kind of awkwardly. The man was intimidating me, a vampire, something was seriously wrong with this picture.

Mr. Snape smirked, "No need to be afraid of us, vampire." I stared at him in surprise but I guess I shouldn't be... Harry knew after all... "We mean you no harm," he said hinting at a smile. "All will be explained tomorrow after school. Shall we all meet here for dinner if the weather is unpleasant? If not will it be acceptable to converge at your home?" He said as he touched my left shoulder and managed to turn me and start walking me down the stairs.

I had not heard such old, formal sounding talk in a long time so it took me a moment to back pedal. "Um, yeah that should be fine," I said as he led me down the front steps.

He smiled, "Good." His face darkened extremely quickly, "But you try to force your way into Harry's head, or any of my children's, or, on the extremely unlikely circumstance, my head," he looked a little smug as he said that, "You will find yourself in a world of pain you have not felt since your turning." The look in his eyes made it clear that he wasn't kidding around.

I gulped and looked shocked at the malice in his eyes. He suddenly grinned while chuckling, "Excellent, I still got the evil teacher thing down pat. See you tomorrow Edward Cullen," I left the house feeling extremely confused.

**(Harry's POV)**

I shook my head, my head was aching all morning and I thought it would let up by the time we got to school, but it was still there when I shut the car door and walked across the parking lot. I sneezed and it felt like my brain slammed against my skull. I closed my eyes, refusing to sway. I could handle this.

"Bless you. Harry, you okay?" Luna asked touching my shoulder.

I smiled at her and opened my mouth. I tried to tell her I was fine but all that came out was a hissing noise. I frowned in annoyance and pulled out my paper pad and wrote _I'm fine. Why can't I speak anymore?_

Luna read it, "I'm not sure, maybe you felt safe before and now it's not safe, so you don't feel like speaking," Luna suggested and I made a humming noise.

My face brightened. _I hummed!_ I wrote with a grin and she laughed before looping arms with mine and leading me towards the school.

My headache made itself recognized as I walked but I hid my pain from Luna. Ron was practically glued to Hermione's side. He felt horrible about making me lose it and was under the impression I needed space from him. Draco on the other hand seemed devastated, and I wasn't sure why, but I had a few suspicions. He was being a loner today and avoiding everyone. I frowned as he escaped inside, leaving us all behind.

"He's very upset," Luna said softly to me. I waited for her to answer my unasked question. Luna it seemed could use her seer ability to at least guess what I was about to say, at least some of the time. "Why?" she asked and I nodded. "I can't be sure, but I know you'll find out and fix it by lunch. Ron's easy to reassure, but Draco is... really screwed up right now." For the first time since we moved, I could see a dead serious look on her face. It rattled me slightly. I hadn't seen that look since the last few battles, but I shouldn't be surprised. She always wore that look when she was dealing with helping Draco.

I nodded, _thanks for the heads up_, I wrote and she nodded. I smiled at her and wrote, _I might not be able to tell the future... but I'm pretty good at reading a situation..._ I gave her a knowing look. I knew she still liked him, no matter how much she tried to deny it.

The usually pale girl turned as red as Ron's hair. She looked away from me quickly. "Harry... I don't... I can't... he doesn't..."

_Luna, you know your secret is safe with me, as always. I would never push you to do anything on the matter... besides you two are two of my best friends. I'd do anything to help you out and I would never mean to cause you harm; I just wish you two would stop wasting time and finally be happy with each other_, I reassured her and she smiled, hugging me tight. With her ear close to my mouth I whispered in a voice like the breeze, "Trust me. I'll keep your heart safe."

She pulled back and gave me a watery smile. "Come on, we'll be late if we dawdle anymore," she said grabbing my hand and pulling me towards school.

I sighed heavily and glanced at Draco. He was doodling lazily on his notebook. I swallowed, I didn't have the strength to talk out loud and I didn't want to write my words down... but the last option was one that I disliked. I never liked talking to others in my head, it was far too personal, but sometimes that's what people needed, that deep closeness with another person. People like Draco needed to feel so close to other people it was almost _too intimate_. Somehow the two of us managed to become so close, so intimately involved with one another but never close enough to actually do anything of... that nature.

I opened my mind and reached across the desk and went into his mind. He winced ever so slightly as I entered and spoke to him.

_**I'm not mad at you**_, I whispered softly into his brain.

**I know... I'm mad at myself. Every time I fuck up, you get hurt, **he thought darkly.

I smiled at him sadly, _**Don't be, just learn from your mistakes and move on. The only one who should be mad is me and I'm not.**_

He smiled at me and I could see from his shiny eyes that my words meant something to him. **Thank you Harry... I missed the sound of your voice.**

_**... So do I**_, I whispered before retreating slightly.

Before I could get out of his head he said the question I was dreading. **Why are you so afraid to talk?**

I was silent for a long time, I almost assumed he thought I had left his mind, but he was still tense, waiting for me to speak. _**I don't really know... all I know is that... I'm afraid**_, I said softly.

**Of what?** Draco asked innocently. He wasn't trying to get it out of me; I knew that he just cared about me enough to want to know so that he could help.

I was quiet for a bit,_** I'm not sure. All I know is that whenever I open my mouth to speak, I hear... his stupid laugh and it drives me insane and I can't continue speaking.**_

Draco nodded ever so slightly and let the subject drop. He smiled at me slightly from across the desks though, silently telling me it was going to be okay. I smiled and backed out of his mind and focused on the class.

By lunch my brain felt like someone was continuously punching it. I walked with Draco to the cafeteria discussing with him what on Earth could be wrong with it. "Maybe you should go see Severus?" Draco suggested.

I frowned and shook my head, hiding a wince. _I'll be fine_, I wrote and Draco sighed and seemed to decide to drop it. I cleared my throat and stood in line with him for food. Draco looked at me as if expecting me to talk but I just wiggled my eyebrows and looked at the Cullen and Swan table, silently asking if he wanted to head over there instead.

He looked over, "Are you sure you want another interaction with the Goose?" he asked and I grinned and shrugged. I pointed at an empty table and shrugged. Draco looked up for the rest of our mismatched family. "Well, it seems we get to choose where we sit for our little clan... why don't we sit at the empty table and then decide after?" Draco suggested I knew he was just trying to protect me from future confrontations and I smiled and shrugged, snuggling to his side as he paid for us and we shuffled over to the empty table.

_So, seen any cute girls here?_ I asked Draco and he scoffed and shook his head as he dug into his food. He swallowed his food and arched an eyebrow as he leaned in and looked straight into my eyes. "Harry James Potter, if you don't know my preference of women then I'm Dumbledore's favourite student."

I let out a silent laugh and grinned at him. Draco always teased me for being Dumbledore's favourite and it was true, I did know who he liked. _So when are you going to get around to asking your preferable lady out?_ I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"When I'm bloody well ready, you meddling fool," Draco growled at me and I grinned innocently. Just then the others arrived and I flipped the page of my notebook over before anyone could read it. "What are we doing here?" Luna asked raising an eyebrow at us, "We should sit with the Cullens." She said nodding to over to their table.

"Bella's there," Draco said glaring over there and Luna put a hand on his shoulder.

"Draco, she won't do anything stupid. She's too worried about losing Edward for it. If she tries anything she'll be sneaky about it, and we'll see it if it happens," Luna assured, a hand laid gently on his arm to sooth him. He frowned before heaving a heavy sigh and nodding and we started over to the other table.

"Hi guys!" Alice said cheerfully gaining curious looks from others in the cafeteria.

I smiled at her as my greeting. I glanced at Edward, my heart picking up just a bit before I worked to calm it. Being a soldier in the war we had all be taught to school are emotions, for safety purposes at the least, it wasn't too difficult to push them away for now.

"May we sit with you guys?" Hermione asked politely, a small smile on her lips.

Bella scowled from behind Edward and Alice but they both told us to go right ahead. We sat down and it was completely silent for a bit. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and wrote down_, do you know what we're doing in bio today? _

Edward shook his head, "It has nothing to do with blood so we tend not to look ahead," Edward muttered.

"They already know?" Bella cried out staring at Edward in shock.

The five of us blinked in surprise and their four pairs of eyes were on me in a second, all with the same question. _No_, I wrote out instantly. I didn't want them to tell her. _Not a word_, I wrote after and showed them with a serious look. _Too dangerous_, I added as an afterthought.

Bella was staring straight at me; I swear she wanted to melt me with her eyes. "You already know the Cullens are vampires?" She growled at me, low enough that no one else but the people at our table could hear.

_Pretty much right away_, I wrote and showed her, looking at her innocently.

She growled under her breath and Edward suddenly growled back, "Bella, relax, they won't do anything about it."

Bella shook her head as if she couldn't believe someone committed this injustice to her, "That's not the point. You didn't tell me for forever and this boy was told-"

"Not told," Draco rebuked, "We knew just by looking at them. They don't exactly hide it very much," Draco sneered at her.

_Stop_, I wrote and showed him. I wasn't keen on becoming more of Bella's enemy._ Apologize._

Draco visibly fumed, which for me meant that he was actually very pissed off, or else he would have hidden it more, and shook his head, "You expect me to apologize after-"

I glared at him with all that I had, which, as it turns out, is quite deadly looking after years of trying to copy Severus'._ Draco, now is not the time to make enemies_, I wrote and showed to only him. _I am trying to work things out here._

Draco looked like he'd swallowed something nasty, "I apologize, Ms. Swan, however, please refrain from making accusations and insulting Harry's intelligence in the future."

I stifled a smile at Draco; I should have really known he'd do something like that. Ron was beside himself with laughter, causing a small smile from Draco. Luna giggled behind a hand and Hermione pursed her lips as if annoyed but her eyes showed her amusement.

Bella glared at him, "Fine, apology accepting, and I'll try not to do that."

Draco smirked, "Good, as long as you're trying."

_That's enough_, I showed him and he smirked for a second longer before letting it drop and nodded.

"What are you?" Bella finally asked and I looked up calmly while the others froze, "The ring leader or something?" she sneered, it did not have the effect she wanted it seemed because she looked somewhat annoyed that the others all grinned in amusement and relaxed. Edward and Alice shared a look and I realized that Edward was getting steadily uncomfortable with the situation, but I didn't know why. I also noticed that by this time everyone in the cafeteria was watching us, either out of the corner of their eye or blatantly staring and all were straining their ears to hear.

I took a few bites of food before looking up. The headache was back in full force; I'd managed to forget about it until now. I wrote down, _something like that_. Draco and Luna grinned at me while I held up the page for Bella to see.

She sneered at me and before anyone stopped her she said giving me a skeptical look, "You don't seem like much of one... why would anyone ever follow a mute?" she jibed and I felt my whole body freeze and unfreeze from her insult.

"Bella," Edward growled warningly.

She looked up at him with an annoyed look, "I'm just making conversation Edward, relax."

I turned to my paper, writing as the two exchanged angered glances. I flipped the page to show her what I wrote. _Why would anyone follow me? Despite my lack of voice, my actions speak louder than my words. They know me and they know that I won't lead them down the wrong path. The ability to speak has nothing to do with leading. Kindly watch your own tongue._

I could tell when she finished reading because she scowled and Edward stiffened, I could tell he knew that she was going to snap back something. "Bella, you and I need to talk. Now," he growled and practically pulled her away from the table.

Alice suddenly grinned, "She's in for one heck of a scolding. She's on very, very thin ice. I'd watch your selves though," she stared off into space before smiling at me, "Can't wait to see you at your house this afternoon," she bid us goodbye and headed to class. I finished my food and wrote my own goodbye to them.

"Harry, how's the headache?" Draco asked and I gave him a thumbs-up without looking back as I walked away, towards Biology. The headache was not gone, far from it, it was getting worse, and pain was starting to creep to the rest of my body, but I didn't want to worry him, plus I wanted time alone to think about this whole situation with Edward.

I felt dizzy as I walked down the hall, the place where my scar used to be was aching, everything began to spin and the pain reached an all-time high. It became very abruptly difficult to breathe and laughter began sounding until it was all I could hear. It was his laughter, I pressed my hands to my ears, holding tight, letting out a silent scream.

_**Help me, please God, please Merlin, please someone help me**__,_ I cried in my mind as I squeezed my eyes shut. I was sick of seeing people faces spin past just staring at me in shock and not acting. My legs gave out very abruptly and my scar turned into a scalding sharp fiery pain as I began my quick journey to the floor. I was gone before I hit the floor.

**(Edward's POV)**

Bella and I stood outside in the rain arguing, I was just about through with her. It hurt, not only because I had cared for her, but my suspicious that I had finally found someone to spend the rest of my life with was crushed. I had talked with Carlisle and we both decided even if Harry wasn't in the picture, I can't stand Bella anymore. She was still talking badly about Harry and I reached out and grabbed her wrist as she was flailing it around as she ranted.

"Bella," I growled. I hadn't meant it to go this way, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't stand the way she spoke about him, "Shut up," I ground out and she went silent, her eyes wide and she looked completely shocked. "I can no longer do this. Harry has become a friend of mine, and you have become an ever growing nuisance. I'm sorry, we are over. Goodbye," I told her and it felt good but at the same time, my heart ached with sadness.

Bella stared at me as if I had lost my mind, "E-Edward? You're not serious, are you?" I didn't reply, just stared at her seriously. Suddenly her expression changed, her usually gentle eyes filled with anger, "You realize I'm not just going to forget about everything. We're meant to be, silly," she grinned innocently then and I felt anger ignite in my veins. "Besides," she suddenly smirked, "I know your secret."

I swallowed; I sort of hoped it wouldn't resort to that. I would have to work out some sort of damage control after. "Bella, at this point I don't really give a damn; you've been rude, so possessive that I've not been able to see my own family and you have hurt my friends. I don't want to be with someone like that. We're over." I turned to walk away before looking back over my shoulder, "Besides, who would believe you?" I asked her before turning back and heading in. I tried not to let my heart wrench too much when I heard her let out a sob. It hurt, hurt so bad, but I couldn't do it. She wasn't the same person I fell for. She had turned into her own kind of monster, one that didn't kill people but slowly destroyed something else in side of them. From what I'd heard, she'd destroyed Harry's confidence in his family, she'd almost destroyed the connection my family and I had, and she had broken my heart. All I had left was to limp on and look towards the future and hope the hurting would stop soon.

As I made my way to Biology, I pictured Harry's face in my mind and I smiled slightly, how odd that he could brighten even the darkest day. It when then that I heard the loud, panicked, in pain and clearly scared shout in my mind louder than everyone else, _**Help me, please God, please Merlin, please someone help me.**_

"Harry," I whispered quieter than human ears and rushed, barely in human speed, towards the voice. I rounded the corner to the science sections of school and saw Harry collapse to the ground. I felt as if my frozen heart had been ripped from my chest as I watched his head whack against the floor making a sickening noise as it did so. I ran forward, sliding to his side and in a blink Mister Snape was kneeling beside me. He was muttering softly about concussions and that Harry ought to take better care of himself as he felt around Harry's head.

"Is he going to be alright?" I asked him glancing between Harry's unconscious, but still in pain, expression and Severus' severe expression.

"Perhaps, call the hospital. He needs attention immediately," Severus muttered and gently lifted the boy as Alice and the other wizards came sprinting around the corner.

"Fool," Draco growled when he saw him in Mister Snape's arms. "I should have known, damn Gryffindor with a hero complex, I'll murder him." I thought his reaction was odd, but didn't comment. I knew there was something different about Harry and his relation to the others. They were all hypersensitive to his needs, and not only because he was mute. They skated around him like he was made of glass, all except Draco who acted like his protector. I assumed it had to do with the war they kept hinting at, but I couldn't be entirely sure what had happened to cause them to act so strangely.

I pressed the phone to my ear after dialling the hospital and telling them that Harry would be coming in and that my father specifically was meant to handle him. We made it outside and I asked if they would like to get the car. Mr. Snape shook his head, "Draco, take him," was all he said before Draco grabbed my arm and I felt as if someone was trying to compress me into a small box and was succeeding. The next second we were standing outside the hospital and Draco let go of me as he ran ahead to be with Mr. Snape and Harry.

Hermione giggled softly at my expression and Luna smiled softly, "Odd experience Apparating is, isn't it?" she said mistily.

I shook my head to get the feeling away, "A-Apparating?" I stuttered for the first time in a century.

Luna smiled brightly and nodded, "Oh yes, Apparition, it's a mode of transportation we can use... you saw us do it yesterday," she said blinking and nodding perhaps more than necessary.

I blinked and nodded, "Does it usually feel so... weird?" I asked heading towards the Hospital, still frazzled.

"Oh yeah," Ron said from my side, "And you wouldn't believe how often people splinched," he said with passion in his eyes as he grinned.

"Oh Ron, don't be so morbid." Hermione scolded, she was standing just outside the hospital waiting for us. Upon seeing my confused expression she explained, "Splinching is when a Wizard doesn't Apparate properly and leaves... something behind."

"Namely large body parts," Ron whispered in amusement and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"It kind of is a little amusing," Luna mused, "If it's not you."

Hermione rolled her eyes before glaring at the two, "Come on, let's check on Harry."

At his name my mind cleared and I remember the importance of the journey. After sweet talking the nurse at the reception desk, we headed up to the room Harry was staying in. As we approached the sound of pained screaming alerted me and I took off down the hall, the others following slowly after.

I burst into his room to see my father, Draco and Mr. Snape holding Harry down on the bed as he writhed in pain. His face was scrunched up and he was shaking it back and forth as if trying to get something away from him.

"Leave me alone!" He screamed, his voice hoarse, for some reason I knew he wasn't talking to Mr. Snape, Draco or my father. He let out another ear splitting scream as the others burst into the room.

Draco let go of his legs as Ron grabbed them and went by his head, "Harry," he called to him, "Calm down, it's just a dream," he whispered in his ear. Luna, Hermione and I came forward after shutting the door and helped to hold him down.

Harry's back lifted off the bed and I noticed an odd scar on his forehead was bleeding, what really surprised me was that I felt no blood lust despite the red liquid slowly trickling down across his temple and disappearing into his hair. He started to sob, tears leaking through his squeezed shut eyes. "No," Harry moaned, "Draco," I felt jealously flare up in me as Harry turned toward Draco, but his eyes remained closed. "He's here..." he whispered before screaming bloody murder and his back arched off the bed again.

"No Harry," Mr. Snape said with more passion in his voice than I'd ever heard him use, holding his right arm down, "he's not, he's in England." This did nothing to make the boy see reason.

Harry shook his head again, "He's here... in my head," he said softly and gasped, his eyes shooting wide open to look at the ceiling unseeingly, before closing as he fell limp.

I glanced at the others who had yet to relax their hold. I slowly let go before Snape grabbed my wrist, "Don't," he whispered and pressed on my wrist until I brought it back down to his leg.

"Harry," Draco whispered his voice shaking. He stared hard at Harry's face and I could feel the fear slipping onto his face slowly.

Harry's eyes slowly opened, but they weren't green... they were blood red. "Hello Draco," a voice that reminded me of a snake hissed out of Harry, he suddenly let out a raspy, cold laugh. Draco's eyes widened and he shot backwards away from Harry. I didn't need Jasper to feel the fear creep into everyone in the room.

"Voldemort," Hermione hissed as if it was a curse word and the being that inhabited Harry, for this thing could not be Harry, turned his head towards her.

"The stupid mudblood girl," he growled and tried to escape us but we held tight. He let out a soft hissing laugh as he looked around at us, "Well, well, everyone's here... Severus, the spy, Draco, the betrayer, Ron, the last of the weasel vermin, Luna, the believer of foolish beings... oh yes and of course Harry." The malicious grin spread on his face, "The boy-who-is-finally-dying."

"No! Harry, fight it!" Snape shouted as this Voldemort guy tried to pull his arm free from him.

Voldemort ignored Severus and looked between Carlisle and I, "And two vampires..." he looked around, "Clearly a hospital... a doctor," he mused, "and... and a boy..." his eyes narrowed at me and I found myself unable to looked away. Voldemort let out a loud hissing laugh, "Ah my little Harry, you found you're Mate... a tad too late I think."

Suddenly I felt myself being thrown against the wall like a rag doll. I glanced up to see everyone else had too. Voldemort slowly sat up and was walking towards me. I tried to move but found myself unable too. By the expressions on the other's faces they had the same predicament.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long stick. "Well Harry, how about before it's time for you to go, I make you say goodbye." He held out the stick, aiming it straight at my chest and his face turned into that same malicious grin. Seeing Harry's face twisted into something of a monster burned my heart like nothing else ever had. Just before he could act though, he let out a hissing screech. "No, Potter," he growled, "It's your time to leave."

He let out another loud screech before shutting his eyes and a loud gasp escaped Harry opened his eyes, a vibrant green shining back at me. The stick clattered to the floor as he fell to his knees, letting out coughs and cries of pain. In that instant I felt my inability to move leave and I caught him as he fell against me, all the while coughing and gasping in air. Amongst them, Harry finally whispered weakly and yet it held such rage that I prayed dearly that I wouldn't ever find myself on the wrong end of that anger, "No, it's you who will be leaving, foul demon."

Instantly everyone was at our sides, crowding around but they stopped when they noticed that Harry had begun to sob and he clung onto me. I gently patted his back. It hurt to see him in such a broken state. "Harry, come on," I said gently lifting him up and walking over to the bed he had been lying on.

I set him down and Carlisle went into full Doctor Mode. I was moving to get out of the way when Harry snagged the end of my shirt and held it in his fist, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes, silently asking me to stay. I smiled softly and sat down beside him as Mr. Snape ushered the others out of the room.

After a few questions on his health from Carlisle he finally asked, "Is your headache gone?" as he shone a light into Harry's eyes.

The words _for now_ appeared in thin air made of shimmering emerald. Harry looked up at them passively, as if he thought them curious. I was surprised, but at the same time I had been shocked enough in one evening that I didn't think I'd ever think anything else would be crazy. _He'll be back_, he continued and this time his face crumpled slightly, fear being the top expression on this face before it was controlled.

"How do you know?" Carlisle asked softly, ignoring the phenomenon that had just occurred before his eyes, kneeling down so he was eyelevel with Harry.

Harry smiled softly and brushed his hair aside and point to his scar, which had stopped bleeding. _It's cursed, he told me while he was in my head... he likes to gloat you see_, Harry smirked slightly then, as if he thought this was amusing or foolish, but oddly I got the feeling it was both. _He has a bad habit of revealing too much when he thinks he's won... _Harry's face crumpled again in pain_. Please, I need Severus... he needs to know... I need to leave._

My chest froze, no air entering or exiting at the thought of him going away from Forks, away from me. Harry shook with renewed sobs. _Please,_ he begged, I could tell he was desperate not only because he was shaking with sobs but because the green shimmering letters had appeared strong but began to melt in the air after a few seconds they fell like rain onto the ground, creating a shimmering pool of green that was slowly disappearing.

Harry suddenly cried out as if in pain and I held him tightly. I searched those eyes for red, but it was all Harry, and he was feeling an agony that we couldn't help. He clearly was feeling so emotionally hurt that I was thankful Jasper wasn't here.

Mr. Snape entered the room then and walked swiftly to his adopted son. He let go of me to reach out to him like a child reaching for the comforting arms of their parent. Severus took him right into his arms and held him on his hip like a small child. Harry freely sobbed on his shoulder, and my own heart ached at his pain.

_Severus, _the shimmering green wrote out even as Harry's head was still buried in Severus' shoulder_, please, I need to leave. I can't stay here._

"Why not?" Severus whispered, "We'd take you anywhere, Harry," Severus said passionately and I didn't doubt it for a second.

Harry shook his head from where he was nestled. _No, I must go, leave you all. I can't be near you... too dangerous... he's stronger than I am. He will soon overpower me. I couldn't live with myself if I were the cause of your deaths too._

At the words 'your deaths too' I froze, what other deaths does he blame himself for? Severus' arms visibly tightened his hold on the boy and he walked over and sat on the bed next to me. I could see in his eyes that he was carefully calculating and forming plans. "Overpower you? How?" Severus asked softly, rubbing Harry's back.

Harry was silent for a few moments and I just stared at the two, feeling dazed and hoping for answers to this strange mystery. Harry's face lifted and he looked Mr. Snape in the eyes. He lifted a shaking hand and pointed at his scar and uttered a word that made no sense to me, "Horcrux."

Severus' eyes widened, "We missed it..." he whispered and gently touched the scar. He looked down into Harry's eyes and said forcefully and abruptly, "You're not leaving."

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head forward until his forehead rested on Severus' shoulder again. _But Voldemort-_

"Voldemort can go fuck himself," the normally formal and calm man stated, shocking me and clearly shocking Harry as he reared back in surprise. "You're a part of this family, Harry James Potter, and I'll be damned if that psychopath breaks up this family or disrupts your life again," he growled, "I will think of something. We'll get it out of you." His tone left no room for doubt.

Harry's eyes watered and he clung to Severus again, "Thank you," he whispered, quieter than a mouse.

"What is it?" I finally asked, finally finding my voice. They both looked up, as if noticing us for the first time, "What is a Horcrux?" I asked again to clarify.

Harry stiffened and Severus pursed his lips. "Mr. Cullen," he said addressing Carlisle, "What time do you get off work?" He asked politely.

Carlisle looked at his watch, "Half an hour," he answered with a nod.

Severus gave him something akin to a smile. "Excellent, shall we meet at our house for some explanations in 45 minutes?" he asked calmly even though Harry squirmed a bit.

Carlisle nodded, "Sounds like a plan. I'm sure my family will be looking forward to it."

Severus nodded once politely, "Is he free to go?" Severus asked and at Carlisle's nod he got up, Harry still in his arms and exited the room without a word.

**This shall be interesting**, Carlisle thought and I couldn't help but nod in response.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**(Harry's POV)**

I was relieved the headache was gone, but my whole body was on red alert. I didn't think there was a way out of this. How do you get rid of a Horcrux without offing yourself in the process? I wasn't sure, but I had to fight off my urge to save everyone else and run, just run away. I didn't want to live with them; I didn't want to endanger them. I could still feel him there, on the edge of my mind, waiting for a moment of weakness, a moment of forgetfulness. I couldn't let him hurt them anymore.

As soon as I had walked through the front door, I felt someone grab my arm and my head jerked sharply over to Draco who had gripped my arm in a vicelike grip. "I know that look. I know what you're thinking. Don't even go there. Harry Potter, I swear to Merlin, God himself if he exists, if you take off and leave us, I will hunt you down, beat the shit out of you, drag you back here and chain you to the wall." Draco's face showed the darkness that he harboured in his heart. I didn't doubt for a second his threat was real. "You're my brother, Harry." Draco's cold expression cracked for a moment, his eyes becoming watery, "Don't leave us," he begged and I knew he was silently begging me not to leave him.

I blinked for a second before turning fully to him, ignoring the fact that my arm was getting pulled oddly because he hadn't let go, and pulled him into a hug. _Draco_, I let that strange green lettering tell him. I didn't trust my voice. I knew my voice would sound like _his_ if I dared to speak. My eyes closed, hoping, praying, that Draco would understand, but knowing he never would. _You know me; I'll do what I have to. I need to protect you guys._

The embraced tightened to a point where I wondered if he was going to let me go. "Not this time," a voice behind us growled. I looked up at Ron, who had spoken and I saw him, Hermione and Luna all standing there, straight as if soldiers, and with stern, determined expressions.

"Harry Potter," Hermione said stepping forward slightly, I felt Draco letting go and we both turned to look at them fully. Draco still had his arm slightly around me, as if he was just assuring himself that I was there. "We were your more faithful. We listened to you over Dumbledore and over the Order, we are your soldiers." She shook her head, "Don't deny it, we are, but more than that, we are your family. We love you and because of that, we'll do whatever is needed to help you, even if that means keeping you safe from yourself."

Luna walked forward until she was standing right in front of me so I had to look down at her, but sadly not by much seeing as she was only a little more than an inch shorter than me. She looked straight into my eyes and I could see her pleas and honesty shining through her eyes. "Harry, you say you trust me. Prove it now, trust me, you're safer here with us. Don't leave," For once her voice lacked the mystical feel to it. It only did that when she was dead serious.

I blinked down at her. I felt two conflicted emotions, the saviour, the one who would have left in a heartbeat to save and the boy from Forks, the one who couldn't speak, the one who was scared, the one who just wanted to live and be with his family and develop the friendship I had with Edward until it blossomed into something else entirely.

Edward was a new and frightening thing that had suddenly entered my life. I had heard everything Voldemort had said and seen what he had done, but had no control. As he had approached Edward to kill him and taunted me, I felt anger and pain rise up in me unlike any other time in my life. It had fuelled my fight because I had become overcome with the need to be with Edward, and to that I had to protect him from this monster inside of me.

I stared down at Luna, I did trust her. I knew she wouldn't lie about something like this, and the two emotions, the two me's battled internally for a moment. I blinked and felt a tear run down my cheek before I pulled her into a hug. I shook very subtly and let the words appear in thin air.

_Luna, please, I'm just so scared._

"I know," she whispered sounding mysterious again and yet comforting. "But don't worry, we'll work it out."

_I just want him out of me. I want him gone._ I broke down into sobs and I felt my friends, my family encircle me, giving support.

"He'll be gone Harry," Severus' voice startled me and I jumped, causing the others to pull away from me. "I promise you. I have an idea..."

Luna suddenly froze, clearly seeing into the future and then came out of it, causing her to relax her stance and turned to Severus with a curious expression, "Will that work?" before he could answer she asked another question, "Moreover, will they even agree?"

Severus straightened up and sighed, "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" He muttered, "They'll be here soon."

"Now actually," Luna corrected mistily and right then the doorbell rang.

Hermione left the room to get the door and soon we were all gathered in the living room. We were silent for a couple seconds before Severus stood and held himself in his usual fashion, one of cold formality. "Evening," he greeted, "My name is Severus Snape, feel free to call me Snape... or if you feel so inclined I suppose you can call me Severus." He started and glanced at me with a small jesting glare, "Merlin knows that these dunderheads will be getting you to attempt to warm up to me. Speaking of which, these are my charges: Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and the soon to be Draco Malfoy-Snape and Harry Potter-Snape." He gestured to each and we all nodded in turn, well, except Luna and I, who smiled at the Cullens and gave a wave.

The Doctor from the hospital stood up and smiled at us, I assumed he was trying to be comforting, "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. My name is Carlisle, this is Jasper, Emmett, Edward, Rosalie and Alice my adopted children and my wife Esme." He said motioning to each like Severus and they all smiled and nodded at us.

Severus nodded and Carlisle sat again. "Well, originally, the reason I asked to meet you all was to acknowledge that we know you're vampires, vegetarians, and in the area, and for you to know we know and we're wizards, but," Severus glanced at me, "It seems trouble loves us too much to set us free." I smiled softly, yes, trouble did truly love me. Severus looked over at us before sitting down and saying, "I suppose we should start at the beginning."

Clearly the Cullens knew of the existence of wizards or at least figured it out because none of them looked surprised. Carlisle smiled softly, "That tends to be the best place to start."

Severus sat up straighter and began to tell our story, starting with Lily and James and how they met at school and his relationships with them. They were great listeners to be honest. They gasped and awed and did everything at the right times. When we reached Lily and James' death and my being sent to the Dursley's they all looked at me with heartbroken expressions and I felt pity enter some of their eyes and I shot up out of my seat before they could stop me.

_Stop right there_, the green shimmering letters vibrated with my anger. _Don't you dare pity me, my parents were courageous, amazing people, and it sucks that they're gone. I know, no one knows it more than me, but I'll be damned if that means people pity me for it. They did something for me that I will always appreciate and love them for, but you should be praise them for their courage, not pity me for my loss. I got over their deaths long ago._

Hermione stood and placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked over at her, I realized then that my outburst might have been a bit too much. They clearly didn't mean to offend me and I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and sat down. "You'll have to excuse Harry," Hermione started looking down at me. Draco threw his arm around my shoulder and I snuggled into it. Across from me, Edward tensed in his seat and I felt the urge to go to him, but I restrained myself. "Actually, scratch that, don't excuse him... but just know that his teenage years consisted with him being praised as someone who destroyed Voldemort as an infant when really it was Lily Potter who should have been given that title." She smiled without mirth, "The-Boy-Who-Lived," she said as if it was someone she worshiped, "While he was scrubbing his house from roof to foundation and doing every chore under the sun, wizard children were brought up hearing his name as if he were a God. Even I, a Muggleborn, a child born to non-magical parents, knew his name before ever setting foot in Hogwarts, our Wizarding School. Can you imagine the effect that would have on a child who was neglected for nearly 11 years? Thank God someone had the foresight to think to still treat him like crap," she said smirking at Severus and then Draco. The Cullens looked between the two men and I could tell they were having a hard time believing two people who were very close to me would treat me badly.

"Oh, low blow, bookworm," Draco shot back with a grimace, "First of all, don't even kid yourself, I _tried_ to be friends with him, _someone_ convinced him I was a scumbag, remember?" Draco said glaring at Ron.

Ron scoffed, "Oh please, you didn't need my help. Your comment to Harry was more than enough to convince him."

"What did he say?" Emmett asked leaning forward, clearly amused by their bickering.

"Basically," Ron said ignoring Draco's glare, "he told Harry that his first friend _ever_ shouldn't be his friend because he wasn't from a good, decent, pureblood family, which, by the way, I _am_."

"Not according to the Malfoys," Draco interjected, "You're a blood traitor," he said before explaining to the others that blood traitors was a term meant to describe Muggle loving purebloods. "It's really not the point," Draco grimaced, "I couldn't be Harry's friend. My father would have killed me or forced me to betray him."

I lay a hand on Draco's shoulder; _if you had come to me I would have helped you. You know that, right?_ I asked him in that writing that appeared by itself. I still wasn't entirely sure how that writing was happening. My magic just let me do it. Draco nodded solemnly, "I know," he smiled softly, "But how was I to know that the great Harry Potter would have sympathy for a Death Eater's son?"

I merely smiled at him and rolled my eyes, silently teasing him. "I feel we are off track," Severus said and brought us back to first year. He mostly told the story, but the rest of us interjected at points to put our own perspective on it, and for some things, like what happened with Quirrell, were things only one of us could tell, because we were the only person there. The rest of our school years passed in a similar fashion. There were parts, parts like when we talked about Ginny, Sirius and Neville and the others that had passed on that made me ache with sadness, and others such as when I had to tell what happened in the graveyard that made me quake as I remembered the fear and the electricity known as adrenaline flowed through my veins, and the things Umbrage had done that made me fume with anger, these were the parts that made me want to flee the room and never hear this story again. They made me wish my life was nothing but a fairy tale.

Despite everything, I felt sixth year was the most interesting year that had gone by. I had really gone out on a limb that year and made many friends and allies alike so when the time came the odds weren't so far against us. After convincing Draco Luna and I weren't about to stab him in the back, he agreed to be considered an ally and the ball really got rolling with some of the Slytherins. However it wasn't a complete success, the Slytherins eventually figured it out and beat him within an inch of his life, but I didn't abandon him, even with all the anger he expressed to me, and offered to help in any way I could, even singing him to sleep when he started to suffer from insomnia because of the attack, even after being moved to his own room in Hogwarts. Some good did come out of though; he finally became a true friend.

Although times got steadily darker, we helped kids not fall into darkness or darker emotions. My old love for singing brought me through some dark times and even raised people up with me. Luna and I had taken to going to the Room of Requirements in the dead of night where she taught me to play the guitar so I would have something to occupy my ever-planning, ever-stressing mind.

I even managed to bridge Draco and Ron together when I finally told Hermione and him the full treatment I suffered from the Dursley's and played on Ron's sympathies. Ron knew what it was like to have a large, loving family, and I explained to him Draco and I were alike in the way that we didn't know that and Draco had acted out whereas I had hidden it. Draco had already told me at that point that he had always wished for a large, happy family, like the one Ron had and when he realized this he softened up to Draco. Hermione had only needed an explanation that Draco needed help and I had offered it, he wasn't a threat, he was a friend. She had trusted me enough to understand this and helped Ron understand that too.

It had nearly broken all of us when I found out about Ginny. She and I had been going out since near the beginning of the school year. She had been a touchy subject, I had loved her so much, but then I caught her with a Slytherin one night. I thought that was just it, she had cheated on me. That was okay, I could eventually live through that, but then I had a vision one night of her at a Death Eater meeting. She had apparently finally been introduced to the other Death Eaters after being undercover all year and then was being punished for failing at her mission, the mission of distracting and capturing Harry Potter. It had further broken my heart. I wound up in the room of requirements for what turned out to be days and was found by Draco and Hermione. I told them what happened and they were outraged and comforted me. Draco went off to find the others and we had a meeting in there about her. Ron didn't believe it so he walked up to her and grabbed her sleeve and exposed to the whole school the Dark Mark under her robes. Ron's mistake was that he let her arm go in shock. She then used a portkey to escape from Hogwarts.

Morale at Hogwarts got really low after that, Ginny Weasley was someone everyone considered light and to see her go dark was a shock to all. Parents in Slytherin started pulling their kids out which got the other houses rattled and made Malfoy more nervous than I had ever seen him. He knew his father knew that he had gone over, he had even tried to take Draco out by asking for a refund of the last months of school, but in response I paid for them. He had even threatened to take away his inheritance, but until he made a new heir it was unwise for his name and for his businesses if he ever passed so he just cut Draco off from his money temporarily, which was no problem because I still had money. The crowd had been so subdued one night after most of the Slytherins had left that I had jumped onto Gryffindor table and delivered an encouraging speech to raise spirits. Apparently students considered it one of the most amazing speeches they'd ever heard but I didn't think it was that amazing. It even led me to have to sing the great hall a song because I had tried to convince them that we were still children and we had to fight, yes, but we had to live and be happy too. We needed to blow off steam, which made someone ask me what I did to blow off steam... It resulted in song, which, because of a carefully selected song which required a duet, Draco had to begrudgingly join in on and eventually the whole hall was singing. The next day the house tables had been replaced by year tables and Dumbledore asked me to softly play music from my MP3 and from then on the tables every meal were rearranged and it encouraged the houses to get closer to one another.

When Draco was called home at the end of the school year I finally went to Dumbledore, no, I hadn't told the master conniver about Draco switching over (even though he had become incredibly curious and asked an endless amount of questions and the singing we did finally did sort of give it away), and I got Draco help hiding. Luna and I had flooed over to the safe house with Draco, but word somehow got out, and still to this day I don't know who it was, and as Luna and I were saying goodbye they attacked. It had ended badly. I had been shooting spells everywhere, and pushed Draco and Luna through the floo before the stunner hit me. It still confused me as to how they found us, but I didn't want to talk about it. I had woken up in a dark cell being crucioed by Lord Voldemort himself. It hurt me to think about the time I had spent there, the torture that had ensued, but not thinking about it was working as a way of dealing with it. It had been 3 weeks before rescue had come. Ron, Draco, Remus and Severus showed up to save me. As we escaped I was told that the Weasley's were wiped out in a raid on their home done by the Malfoys and Ginny Weasley. They hadn't meant to leave Ron alive but they hadn't noticed that he wasn't dead and simply knocked out. Draco had gotten an anonymous tip, that he swears to this day is from Blaise Zambini, that the Weasley's were being raided. Having no time to tell anyone, he Apparated to the burrow to see it lit up in flames and Death Eaters Disapparating and when they were gone he entered their burning home and checked every individual to see if they were alive. The only one he found alive was Ron, who he pulled out of the burning home and brought to the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Three days later they had located me and got me out of there in what felt like minutes only to have to go to war. That had been ever so lovely.

By the time we were finished I felt emotionally drained. "So, after Harry told the crowd that they could have Tom," Severus had resorted to calling him that to avoid the whole Voldemort and he-who-must-not-be-named thing. He still was schooled to call him the Dark Lord, but every time he did we would glare at him, and the name Voldemort still had an effect on him. "We went back to my home on Spinner's End." Severus glanced at me and I smiled softly at him, encouraging him to go on. "We were all pretty banged up and traumatized. We'd lost many we cared about, Neville had perished in battle. Harry wasn't speaking, not about the war, not about his time being captured; he spoke of nothing and to no one. Luna wouldn't stop sobbing and staring off into space, I now realize she was looking for a brighter future, but at the time she created a bit of a scare. Draco wouldn't let go of Harry during the first day and didn't let him out of his sight for the next week. Ron stayed holed up in the boy's room, yelling and snapping at everyone till Draco went up there and they had a good shouting match and confronted him about the death of his family and the role Draco's played in it. Hermione just sat in my library and read books, I still have no idea what you meant to achieve by reading all my books." Severus cast Hermione a glance that spoke that he was suspicious, but didn't understand.

Hermione smiled sadly, "I was trying to keep my mind off of everything... watching everyone self-destruct would only result in me falling apart as well."

Severus nodded as if this was acceptable, and to be honest, it was. We were a crazy bunch the first few days after the war. Carlisle looked Severus in the eye and asked, "What did you do after the war?"

We all looked at him, curious as well. Severus sighed, "I did what I do best, I made potions, mostly ones for healing that were sent to Saint Mungo's... and drank a lot of firewhiskey."

I sat up straighter, _Severus Snape_, I scolded_, you had better not be continuing that crutch. I know you were stressed, and still are, but you know that we will all bounce back eventually. _

Severus gazed at me passively, "Oh I know Harry, everyone did get better, and at a remarkable pace, all except one." His black eyes bore into mine and I swallowed.

_I'm working on it, _I replied_, I'm trying. You don't need to worry about me._

Carlisle and Esme chuckled suddenly and we looked over at them, "Oh Harry," Esme said talking for the first time, her musical voice and motherly nature made my insides shake. I wished I had a mother like her, and I didn't even know her! "No matter how old your children are, whether they are 17 or 117, you will always worry about them, no matter how hard you try to convince us otherwise." I smiled at her, I knew there was a reason my first impression made me like her.

"But what happened at the Hospital?" Edward asked leaning forward.

I sighed, rolling my neck, suddenly remembering the incident. Severus sighed, "We explained to you what a Horcrux is. What resides in Harry is a piece of Tom's soul," this caused all the Cullens to gasp.

"No way," Emmett exclaimed, "That freaky snake guy, is _in _Harry?"

I glared sharply at him and I felt arms grab me; it wasn't just a precaution to make sure I didn't get up to attack him, which although they probably wouldn't take seriously, would be a problem for him. I had proven before that I could do damage to vampires. Also though, the physical contact would help keep me grounded. _You don't have to rub it in. How the fuck do you think I feel about it? I have part of the man who killed my parents and tons of other people I love in me. He killed Neville, he took Ginny from us! _I felt tears brimming on my eyes and I started shaking. I concentrated on the hands holding me still before I knew it wasn't going to be enough and bolted from the room.

I heard several people call my name but I had disappeared upstairs. I burst into my room and crawled onto my bed, crying the pain in my heart out. I lay there for several minutes, I heard shouted downstairs after at least 10 minutes had passed and wondered what happened. I felt kind of bad and wanted to go apologize to them all for overreacting, but it just hurt so much. It was always me; every time something went wrong I was in the center of it. I was so sick of it but there wasn't much I could do. It just made me sick to my stomach that he was within me. How could they ever love me with this monster that ruined their lives within me?

_**That's right Harry, how can they love a worthless freak like you? You're harbouring a murderer... I'd say that makes you just as bad...**_

I clutched my head as I heard his stupid, hissing voice in my ear, pain radiated from my scar outward and I let out an ear-splitting scream. "Get," the first shriek faltered because of the rasp in my voice but the rest came through strong, "Out of my head!" the words had slowly come out, but they were _loud_. The sound of movement downstairs was instantaneous; I just hoped they weren't too late.

**(Edward's POV)**

I moved to follow Harry but Alice placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Let him go, he needs to just cool off. He'll be down in a bit." I sighed and nodded, sitting back down. I also noticed across from me Hermione looked like she was going to get up but Luna had placed a hand on her shoulder until she sat down again. She was still gazing off into the distance though.

Severus cleared his throat, "Sorry for Harry, he is prone to emotional outbursts; he'll cool off in a few minutes."

Carlisle smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry about it, emotional outburst are not uncommon in our family."

Severus nodded and slowly stood, "See, the problem with Horcrux's are that they can only be destroyed in certain ways, and there never has been an occasion where a human has been one. Usually they have to be destroyed by something that has magical properties, such as Basilisk venom, it needs to break down the thing, destroy it entirely, or the Horcrux will live on within the object. In this case, the object is Harry, and I fear for him. Harry is a foolish selfless boy when he gets down to it. He will do whatever it takes to save those he loves... from going down into unknown chambers beneath Hogwarts to getting captured by Death Eaters that are hell-bent on killing him to save his friends," Draco winced at this, "and if given enough time to brood over this, I wouldn't put it past him to hurt himself," Severus paled slightly, "or even kill himself to get rid of Tom."

I felt my gut clench at the idea of him pale and cold, completely motionless, dead. I couldn't handle that and I clenched my teeth to keep from causing an outburst.

We all digested this for a moment, "So," Severus said, visibly swallowing, "the thing is, we need to find a way to kill that part of him without killing Harry." He paused, as if he was thinking something over, "To my knowledge there is only one way to do that."

I noticed that everyone in the room was leaning forward, looking at him intently, curious as hell to find out what it was. All except Luna and Alice who sat back and were staring at each other, either they were staring off into the future, or they both knew what he was going to say and were thinking it over.

Severus swallowed again, "There are only two ways to destroy a Horcrux. One must either destroy whatever, or in this case, whoever it is that has the soul inside them. Or, they must purify them." I felt a sickening sense of dread overcome me. "Destroying Harry is out of the options, so all that's left is to purify him of the soul and all else... and the only way to do that is to inflict a virus upon him that wipes out all and makes anew..." Severus looked up at us, the Cullens and sent his coal black eyes on us. "The only thing I know of that would do that is vampire venom."

This comment caused me to uproar very suddenly and it took me a moment to realize that Alice and Luna were standing, between the Wizards and Vampires, facing opposite directions, Luna to them and Alice to us and holding their arms up in a 'I surrender' fashion and Alice was staring at me calmly.

I felt sickened, condemn Harry to this life, beautiful, perfect Harry to a life of vampirism? Destroy his soul in the process? This wasn't purifying, this was the epitome of destroying one's soul. I let my opinion known while Carlisle tried to explain over me that he didn't bite people unless they were in dire conditions. Rosalie of all people suddenly shouted at us to shut up and I noticed the Wizards stopped bickering as well.

Draco looked livid while Hermione looked calculating and Ron looked stuck in the middle. Severus was merely passive and Luna, I realized, had been trying to persuade them to calm down and talk about it rationally.

We were silent and I heard Harry's voice from upstairs shouting the words, "Of my head!" Rosalie and Draco were up and taking off for the stairs instantaneously and we all followed closely behind.

We all piled into Harry's room and Severus, Rose, Draco and I all rushed to his bedside. I had no idea why Rose was there, or why she cared so much about Harry, but I was glad she cared for him. It might have been difficult if she hated Harry like she hated Bella, considering this time I was certain by now he was my mate.

Harry had his hands pressed against his temples, his face contorted in pain and arching off the bed, crying out in agony. Severus replaced Harry's hands for his on Harry's temples and closed his eyes as Draco tried to talk to him and bring him back to focus.

"Harry, Harry, remember when in third year I insulted Hagrid and Hermione slapped me in the face?" he asked looked distressed, Harry opened his eyes and focused on Draco. I took Harry's hand in mine and he smiled at me. Rose brushed some of his hair aside and gripped his other hand. "I had that handprint on my face for a good three days," Draco said and Harry smiled, "I had to put a glamour on to make sure no one saw it. Blaise caught me in the bathroom applying it and asked me what I did to my girlfriend to result in that." I heard Hermione snicker behind us somewhere. He chuckled and tears fell from his eyes, "He didn't let up on teasing me for years. He even asked me about it the last time I saw him, before his father took him out of school. We talked about his father and how he couldn't get out of the battle. I tried to convince him that the light would protect him, but he didn't believe me. He told me that they wouldn't want someone so tainted by the dark. I tried to get him to see that you didn't care about that but I think he must have been too scared. Maybe scared that I was just faking it and was going to turn him over or scared of his father, I don't know. Right before he left he turned around and asked me if I could tell him who the girl who slapped me was, because he didn't think he would see me again and he always wanted to know... Fuck, he was a good friend," Draco rubbed his eyes and Rose took his other hand and glancing back I saw Luna place a hand on his shoulder. He leaned his face over to rest his cheek on her hand. "Harry, don't go, please, we've lost so many," he suddenly burst into sobs and Luna wrapped her arm around his shoulders and he turned into her shoulder.

Harry's eyes locked onto Draco and he shut his eyes tight. Slowly Severus opened his eyes and sighed, "Harry, I put a wall. It's temporary, but it'll hold for a while, hopefully a week."

Harry opened his eyes slowly and nodded, before giving a sigh. He pushed himself up into a sitting position. Harry took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, a determined look on his face. He glanced at the people in the room, and I held his hand tighter in mine. He glanced at me with a smile before looking back at Draco. "D-Draco," he started his voice scratchy before giving a cough and a wince. Draco turned to him, his eyes wide with wonder and I didn't think anyone in the room breathed, waiting to see what he would say. "Wh-what did you tell him?" his voice shook heavily but he got through it.

Draco suddenly smirked, "I told him Hermione Granger slapped me in the face because I was being an ass." A glance at Hermione proved that she had begun to cry softly and was resting her forehead on Ron's shoulder. "I told him she was right to do it."

Harry smiled softly; he cleared his throat, "You sly Slytherin." He smiled softly, his eyes watery. "You would roll over and die before admitting Hermione was right to do something like that to a pureblood when you were under your father's control... proving you're really light." I felt like rejoicing at his voice, I couldn't explain it, but his voice calmed my soul. It made my bones vibrate with pleasure and love. I wanted to gather him in my arms and take him away somewhere, just us, forever and ever.

Draco smiled and nodded before his face fell, all his schooled expressions were gone. We all still were quiet, watching the exchange. Severus was looking at his two sons with happiness and hope. Draco hiccupped slightly, "Unfortunately it just got him killed," Draco whispered, "If I didn't tell him that he would have fought for the dark and then his father wouldn't have-" Draco broke off and visibly gripped Rose's hand tighter and Luna's arm tightened around him.

Harry let go of Rose's hand and came forward and took Draco's other hand. I felt jealously curse within my veins for a second, but then I remembered their explained relationship. They had spent so long hating each other, they cared for each other with just as much fervour, but it was completely platonic.

Harry looked deep into those silver eyes, and I felt pride ignite in me. Harry cared so much for his friends, he overcame his own problems to help Draco with his sadness. "Draco Malfoy, if you hadn't, he'd be in Azkaban or dead, at least now he died fighting for what he believed in," Harry said, not losing eye contact with him. Draco suddenly launched himself at Harry, but Harry gathered him in his arms as if it was nothing. Harry glanced at me and smiled softly.

Draco straightened up quickly after a moment, "Uh, um, sorry," he said pulling out an actual handkerchief and blew his nose and wiped his eyes with a different part of it.

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes at him, "Think nothing of it," Harry whispered and looked at the rest of us before slowly getting up. "I apologize for my earlier outburst, shall we continue this downstairs?"

Severus nodded and stood as well, putting an arm around Harry's shoulders and leading us downstairs. When we were all sitting at our previous seats Severus told Harry his plan, telling us to all remain calm because he wasn't going to force Harry or us into anything and if we decided to forgo the idea then he would try to figure something else out.

Harry sat pondering this for a few seconds before looking around at everyone, "Well," he started, still looking somewhat uncomfortable with his voice, but he seemed to be fairing okay, "I think I would like to hear what everyone has to say on it before I say my opinion."

So we began, basically there were three options, okay with him being a vampire, being opposed to being a vampire and not caring either way.

Hermione started, "Harry," she said turning towards him, "to be honest I don't mind the idea. If you wish to use this method by getting rid of the Horcrux then I won't stop you, but know that I would rather you researched more and if it comes to this then I will supply you with enough information on the life of vampires to have you reading for months."

Harry smiled, "Coming from you, I wouldn't have it any other way." Hermione grinned at this.

Ron sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Alright, so the idea kinda creeps me out, but if it keeps you safe then, mate, go for it. You know me, I'll get used to it in a couple days." Harry smiled at him and Ron nodded.

Harry turned to Draco, who shook his head before taking a large amount of his blonde hair into his hand and yanked at it. He sighed and let go, "Okay, fine," he spat out. "I hate the idea. Merlin's beard Harry, why does it have to be you every bloody time?" it was clear he wasn't actually asking Harry this question. He sighed again, "I would rather you didn't. I'd rather you researched more... but I think there isn't a lot of time to make this decision... So," Draco looked angry again and Harry placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"I'd be the same person, just a different diet," He said softly and Draco winced.

Draco sighed, "Fine. You know me; your safety is the top priority. If it gets rid of him then do it."

Harry looking pleadingly at Severus and I don't know what crossed between the two of them but Severus spoke up. "Draco, we'll talk later," Draco sighed and nodded grudgingly.

Harry looked over at Luna and she sighed and closed her eyes, "Harry, there are two outcomes in my mind. Death and vampirism," she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Leaving results in death and staying results in vampirism... and I'd rather have you walking around, being that stupidly courageous and sweet Gryffindor that you are then dead. You won't be different, you'll just be immortal." I took what she said to heart and not only because I could see Alice nodding in agreement.

"Harry, whatever you decide, I will allow and accept," Severus said calmly. Harry nodded with a small smile.

Carlisle nodded slowly and said, "You have shown that you need help and if it needs to come from us then I'd be willing to help." It was all he said and I felt like he'd stabbed me in the back, I knew how why but I hated it that I had to damn Harry.

Esme said that she didn't care either way as long as he was safe. Rosalie turned to Harry, "It's not a good life," she whispered loud enough for us all to hear.

Harry nodded, and I noticed his eyes getting teary, "I know, but life's never been terribly good to me."

Rose nodded slowly, "And that I understand," she broke off for a moment. She looked to be looking for the words but I knew from her thoughts that she was seeing if she had the will to say what she was going to say. "Harry life has never been kind to me. My human life was ripped from me and my chance at having a family was taken from me." Harry looked sympathetic at this. "If it's the only option then yes, I would be honoured to call you a fellow vampire, but please, look deeper first." She turned her pleading eyes to Severus and he nodded.

It reached my turn and I swallowed. I reached across and took Harry's soft, warm hand in mine. "Harry, you've become increasingly more important to me," he smiled at me for this, "Harry this life... it's not good, we are monsters. We are damned and our souls are destroyed, I can't let you fall into this. Please, I beg you, research more. I want him gone, but I won't destroy you too." I begged silently for him to listen to me and he looked me in the eyes and nodded, showing he understood. I slowly pulled my hand away with a small smile.

Emmett gave his full consent loudly. Jasper expressed that more research was needed but becoming a vampire if needed was fine with him and Alice simply smiled at Harry, "From what I can see, my opinion will have no change in yours. Those who you care about have spoken and you're heard their opinions." Harry smiled softly and she grinned back, "But know this, the outcome will be the same either way. Your soul will not be damned," at this I stiffened, "You'll be immortal, but you'll be you." She said this softly, and it left me time to think it over. Luna and Alice both said he would be immortal but himself and they were blocking me from their thoughts. They knew something and they weren't letting us know yet.

Harry finally sighed after a few moments of silence, "Alright, I have heard what you all have said. As Alice already pretty much revealed, I did this to see the opinions of those whose opinions matter greatly to me and after seeing them I have decided that more research needs to be done, but if there is nothing else then if you'll allow me I would like to be changed into a vampire," Harry looked me straight in the eyes, "because if Voldemort takes over, he'll destroy my soul and soul or no soul, being a vampire with you all sounds just a little bit like heaven." I felt my heart melt and break at the same time. He was willing to give up his humanity for the safety of those around him and yet he still saw it as something good in it. I just hoped I was somewhere in his windy road to happiness.


	7. Chapter 6

WOOP WOOP! I GOT MY DOCUMENTS BACKKKKK! My computer is toast, but the documents have been returned to me -huggles new external hard drive- I'm going to post this in exchange for the author's note thing so it's not in the middle of my story or anything and I really hope you enjoy this chapter... it's kinda cheesy in some parts, but I'm just getting the ball rolling!

Happy Reading

**Chapter 6**

**(Harry's POV)**

After that, it was decided that we would wait a while, a couple days at the least while Severus researched. However if the attacks got steadily worse, then we would have to act. I was okay with that. I didn't want to rush people into this decision, now they had time to think about it and if it came down to it, accept it.

Luna and Alice made me think though. They both said I would be immortal, but I would be myself, which went against everything Edward was trying to subtly tell me. I knew none of them would deceive me and they were all trying to look out for me, but this comment made me think, and the more I thought about it the more comfortable I was with trusting Alice and Luna with the fact that everything would turn out okay.

From there people began to disperse, Alice and Luna went one way to talk while Hermione and Jasper began to converse about history and educational things I couldn't follow. Severus drifted to Carlisle and Esme while Emmett, Rose, Draco, and Ron began to talk casually amongst themselves.

I turned to Edward and grinned at him before going over and sitting next to him. The touch of his leg against mine was enough to send shivers running up and down my spine. "Harry," his voice said softly, "Do you mind if you and I go talk outside?" he asked and I nodded numbly and the two of us exited into the backyard.

I took a deep breath; I rubbed my hands together, pushing my courage and strength to its limit to speak. "W-what did you want to talk about?" It wasn't that I was scared of him, far from it. I just had no idea what were going to be talking about and being so close to him was making my heart race and I was working so hard to steady it. Not to mention I just talked so bloody much, my throat was sore from overworking it and I still could hear his ghostly laugh in my head taunting me.

Edward sighed and abruptly hugged me, I stiffened for a moment before hugging him back, "Um," I said feeling confused.

Edward sighed again and pulled away. "Harry, I wanted to talk to you about you being my mate," Edward said slowly. My mouth fell open to say something but then it slowly closed, I was at a loss for words. "I understand if you don't want to run head first into this. I just broke up with Bella and it's suspicious if I immediately jump into a relationship with you, but I would also like to know you better as friends just to get to know you. I already know I like you enough to date you, but I don't know you, and I want to."

A grin settled itself onto my face, "T-Thanks Edward," I said softly and gave him a tight hug. "I would like to get to know you better too. There's a lot going on in my life right now and I sort of want things to settle down before going into this relationship. I want to do it right, with nothing to hold me back and drag me down."

Edward smiled down at me, "Friends then?"

I smiled softly up at him from where I was hugging him, "Friends... for now," I said with a slightly mischievous grin. Edward chuckled and held me tightly to him, basking in each other's presence.

* * *

That evening we sat around our dining room table, just Severus, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Draco and I. I felt oddly content to be with my family, I felt a tinge of longing to be with Edward, but right now I was just happy to sit with them. None of us spoke, we simply sat with each other's company, we didn't even need to ask people to pass things, it seemed that the people at the table knew when and what people needed.

I thought back to everything that I had been through, and was still going through and I felt my lips tremble for a moment. My eyes watered, but not in sadness. I pressed my hand against my face and rested my elbow on the table as I shook with tears, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Harry," the concerned voice of Hermione greeted my ears, "are you okay?"

I lifted my head and let my eyes coast over the people at the table and nodded, a smile on my lips, "I'm just thinking back to when I was little. I've come so far, we've all come so far..."

Draco smiled at me from halfway down the table, "Come on, Potter," he teased, "Don't get sappy on us," he said it softly, a smile caressing his lips and I smiled back.

"Especially you," I shot back and he grinned, but it was ruined when he let out a hacking cough.

All eyes seemed to be on Draco for a moment, concern in most eyes. Draco held up a hand for us to wait. "It's okay, just a tickle," he brushed off.

I glanced at Severus across the table and he looked back, I gave him a pointed look that I didn't think it was 'just a tickle' and sent me one back clearly telling me that he thought so too and would investigate into it.

The rest of the meal was in silence until Hermione commented on Ron's eating habits and suddenly we were all joking with each other. _Is this what having a family was like?_ I asked myself before realized I didn't care how other families acted, I loved mine just the way it was.

* * *

The next day at school it seemed people had made it their duty to announce that Bella and Edward were no longer dating. None of us seemed to mind, except Edward because people kept thinking about it and he couldn't stop because of it. I felt bad for him as he was ranting at lunch and I lay a hand on his arm. _Would you like me to occlude your mind for the afternoon? _I wrote down, we had yet to come up with an idea of what to say as to why I was getting my voice back, so it was back to paper, which I was fine with. I still didn't like using my voice_, that way you don't have to hear them?_

Edward seemed to ponder it for a moment before smiling softly and nodding, "Sure, give it a try," I smiled and nodded and touched his temple, just to make it a little easier.

I closed my eyes and after a couple seconds I pulled away. _Well?_ I wrote down feeling nervous. What if it didn't work? _Did it work? _I asked him.

Edward cocked his head to the side and frowned, "Huh, silence..." he said before grinning at me and causing the others to laugh and me blush, "Thank you Harry. I haven't had quiet in my head in over a decade."

I smiled up at him slightly, blushing heavily before turning away, looking at Draco who was trying very hard not to laugh it seemed._ Oh shut up Draco_, I wrote and showed him before chucking one of my fries at him.

He let out a laugh and then promptly had a coughing fit. I frowned, halfway between calling karma on him and asking if he was alright. Luna beat me to it, laying a hand on his shoulder and asking if he was okay.

Draco nodded and patted her hand, "I'm fine, just a cough. I must be getting one of those muggle colds..." he said and nodded, as if he decided that was the reason and that was it.

Suddenly someone shouted my name and I turned in my seat and looked around for whoever had called me. Spotting Jessica of all people I felt annoyance curse though me but I ignored it for now, after all, perhaps she was apologizing?

"Can I speak to you?" she asked looking awkward and nervous as she approached the table. I noticed Bella sitting at their table and I debated silently to myself for a moment before nodding and getting up. I quickly wrote that I'd see the other's later and headed off with Jessica.

She kept walking until we were outside and away from all people. "Alright," Jessica said turning towards me when we reached the parking lot. "Firstly, I wanted to apologize for what I said," she said looking not entirely like she was sorry, but she was somewhat regretting it so I nodded in response. I couldn't help the way she was and I'd dealt with worse. I decided to wait and see what she had to say. She looked awkward for a second, "Okay, people want to know. This is just how it looks and I want to just clear things up," I almost smiled because it thought it amusing that she was trying to sugar coat that she wanted to hear from me if the rumours were true and if they weren't, start new ones. "Okay, so you and your family shows up, Edward and Bella are okay and then he meets you and suddenly breaks up with Bella and you're still hanging around him... People are starting to think that Edward left Bella for you, and are starting to say that you're dating Edward now."

I stared at Jessica for a moment before a grin broke out onto my face before I began to laugh, honest-to-God, hands-resting-on-knees-for-support laughing out loud. Jessica stared at me with eye filled with confusion and surprise. I guess she wasn't expecting this reaction at all. The euphoria it caused made me to laugh more and I slowly brought myself back together as I pulled out my paper pad and pen. Just then an idea struck me and I had a brilliant plan.

_No Jessica, I am not dating Edward. Yes, we are close friends now, but I had nothing to do with Edward and Bella's break up. Yes, she was incredibly rude to me multiple times and it partly caused Edward to break up with her but because of his morals. I'm his friend and she was insulting me and being possessive about his time with everyone. He was getting sick of it and her insulting a good friend of his all the time was the icing on the cake. _I wrote and showed her.

She took a moment to read what I said. "Oh," she finally said and seemed embarrassed, "sorry. Okay, that was the story Bella was telling me, that he left her for you... anyways it's all cleared up now." She smiled politely at me and I nodded, "Um, so how are you such close friends with Edward then? You just got here..." she said trailing off looking skeptical, "he's not exactly easy to know, if you catch my drift."

I smiled and nodded, for her Edward would send up all the warning singles to get away. I quickly wrote down, _well Jessica, Severus, or I guess for you Mr. Snape, has been looking for a way to get my voice back. So he contacted Carlisle Cullen about it and I have been going to his house with my siblings and they've been hanging out with the Cullens while I get speech therapy and it's been going well so far. Sometimes we would stay after and hang out, that's how I got to know Edward and his family._

Jessica smiled at me again, "Wow, that's awesome Harry," her voice was lacking emotion, but I let it go. I just wanted her to spread that rumour. At that point the bell conveniently rang so I smiled at her and said a softly spoken goodbye which seemed to shock her and walked off towards class.

* * *

The next couple days past without much problems, the wall Severus put up on my mind helped keep any major attacks at bay, but I could sense him right behind it, working on forcing it down. Edward and I hung out a lot, and I felt many of Bella's glares on my back but ignored them because I knew Edward was bothered by them and so I didn't want to bring them up. Edward was unsurprisingly a really nice guy and somewhat surprisingly funny. I found the way he said things amusing even though he didn't understand why.

Draco had been getting worse and worse, he now was sneezing and coughing almost 24/7. I actually went to his room to check on him in the middle of the night last night because he just kept coughing and keeping people up with it. He had a stash of tissues on him at all times, but what surprised me was that I never saw any of the waste from them. Unlike when Dudley was sick and they were everywhere in the house, ours was spotless of any trace of his sickness, but then again, this was Draco Malfoy, not Dudley Dursley.

Severus and Draco had sat down today and spoke about me becoming a vampire. As far as I know, Severus had helped Draco see that he wasn't a completely terrible idea and how I would still be myself. Furthermore, he didn't need to protect me like he used to, it was time we all started living without war on our doorsteps. Draco also told me that he took a mucus sample (even though Draco was very adamant that it was nothing) and was going to test it to just make sure nothing was seriously wrong.

The main problem occurred the next day. Ron was running around all morning for his things, as usual, Luna had her head in the clouds as she ate her breakfast and Hermione was apprehensively gazing at the clock every once in a while, and she was clearly getting impatient. I finished packing my bag and after I got my cereal sorted I asked her what was making her so impatient.

"Draco is going to make us late," she said glumly.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, I'll go grab him," I said softly and took my bowl with me upstairs. I shuddered when I got out of view of them. His ghostly laughter still rang in my ears and I told it to shut the hell up, unfortunately it didn't change a thing. I continued on my way up to Draco's room and entered it slowly, "Drake?" I called softly and was answered with a pain filled moan. "Draco?" I called more seriously now. I set my bowl on Draco's desk as I took a few hesitant steps forward. "Drake, are you okay?" I asked approaching his bed which was against the far wall of his bedroom. As I pulled back the covers I saw that Draco was curled in the fetal position, shaking and sweating under them. His cheeks were flushed and he moaned again.

"Harry," he groaned, "It hurts," he actually honest-to-God whimpered and I sat gingerly on his bed, causing the mattress to rock slightly and he let out a small whine, "Oh Merlin, it hurts," he moaned and hugged himself closer.

I gently lay a hand on his shoulder, "What hurts Draco," I asked him softly, hoping I wasn't hurting him but I wanted him to know I was there for him and was going to help him.

Draco took a couple deep breaths before responding, "Everything, my bones, my muscles... it feels like my bones are on fire and my muscles are all torn." I saw a tear slide down Draco's cheek and I knew this was very serious.

"Okay," I said softly, "Draco, you just lie here; I'm going to go get Severus. It'll be okay, alright? Every thing's going to be alright," I assured him and he nodded hastily, his eyes pleading with me. I nodded and slowly got up off the bed, covered him again and walked slowly, calmly to the door. Once I closed the door I took off down the hallway. I tore past the kitchen, Luna dropped her spoon as I did, her face filled with terror as the spoon splashed into her bowl completely unnoticed. She had buried her face in her hands by the time I had reached the door to the basement where Severus' potions lab was, and bolted down the stairs, ignoring Ron and Hermione's frantic questions and confused expressions.

I nearly ploughed right into Severus, who had come over to the stairs when he heard the commotion I was making. "Harry, what on Earth are you doi-" Severus started, a slightly irritated look upon his face.

"Draco is sick," I blurted out, interrupting him and stopping just in time to not run into him.

Severus looked somewhat confused for a moment, "Yes," he said slowly, "We all are quite aware of his sniffling and coughing."

I felt a rush of annoyance, "No, Sev," Severus visibly cringed at the name. "He's in pain, he can't get up and he's crying, and moaning and saying his bones are on _fire _and his muscles are torn," I exclaimed frantically. "You got to do something," I gripped the front of Severus' shirt in desperation as a calculating, albeit slightly panicked look crossed his face.

"Harry," Severus said calmly, but I could tell there was an underlying urgency in his voice. He gently took my hands from his shirt and held them in his. "You need to calm down, it won't do the wall well if you over panic right now-"

I interrupted him again, "But Draco," I sputtered pathetically feeling helpless.

"I will check on Draco," Severus assured, staring into my eyes, "But you need to go upstairs, sit down and calm down. I will take care of Draco, okay?" he said this all very calmly and quietly. I let him steer me up the stairs and into the living room. "Now stay here," Severus said sternly once he had me seated and left me there.

I slowly worked to calm myself but it wasn't working. I didn't know what was wrong with him, but I didn't want Draco to be hurt or die. I couldn't let another of us die. We were supposed to be away from all that hell. I felt tears run down my face. I didn't want Draco to suffer, not when we just reached freedom, or well, when we were so close to it.

Just then Hermione walked into the living room holding a vial, "This is for you," she said softly, "It's a calming potion. Severus said to give it to you and Luna." I took the potion from her and drained it.

"Why Luna?" I asked quietly, letting the potion calm my racing emotions. No matter how much I thought about Draco I couldn't feel myself worrying.

Hermione smiled somewhat grimly, "She sort of had an emotional breakdown in the kitchen. We're not too sure what happened but Severus told us to get a calming potion for each of you as he passed. What is going on?" she asked clearly concerned.

"Draco is really sick," I said feeling somewhat light headed, "He can't move, he says his muscles hurt, his bones are on fire, he's all hot and sweaty..." I trailed off staring off into the distance. I could feel a strange presence in the back of my mind, I knew I should be worried but I couldn't feel worried about it even though I knew I should. "Run Hermione," I said softly, blinking, "Something's wrong."

Hermione stared at me in surprise for a moment before I felt pain erupt all over my body and I remembered why it might not be such a good idea to be calm when there's a madman in my head trying to force down the wall separating us because it was partially kept up by me being alert. I held my head and screamed as it felt like my brain was splitting in two. I saw a red light zooming towards me and I didn't move to avoid it. I slumped forward as the world went dark, which was good though, this way Voldemort couldn't take control of my body.

* * *

I awoke in my bed, with Luna Lovegood sitting on the edge of my bed, her hand slowly carting through my hair. "Luna?" I called softly and she looked over to me with a smile.

"Hi Harry, gave us a right scare didn't you? Good thing Hermione thought to stun you before Voldemort could take over," she said cheerfully.

I frowned at her for a moment. She was acting strangely, usually she would be upset by this sort of thing, "Luna, are you alright?" I asked softly.

Luna's expression fell immediately and she lay down on my chest, "No, you've got a psychopath in your head and Draco is so sick he can't move and Severus isn't sure what's wrong with him yet so he can't give him anything but mild pain relievers," she suddenly burst into tears, surprising me and I simply stared at her for a moment, completely confounded, before wrapping my arms around her. I just lay with her, rubbing her back soothingly and trying to calm her down. Eventually she gathered herself together and I pulled her up off my bed and we slowly went to Draco's room. Luna sat on the floor and rested her head against his bed so they could see each other from where Draco was lying. I sat in his desk chair which was squishy and rolled, so I rolled it over to his bedside.

Draco smiled looking somewhat dazed at us, "Hi," he croaked and Luna smiled softly, something I was thankful to see.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him softly. I felt a bit guilty that right now I wished to be curled in Edward's arms for comfort as I waited to hear what he had to say.

Draco shrugged and winced in response to his movement, "Still hurts," he rasped, but when he cleared his throat it sounded normal, "but significantly less. Severus gave me some potions, I will be fine, even if right now I don't think I could walk. He's going to run some more tests to figure out what's wrong. How are you? I heard there was another attack." He looked concerned and I gave him an annoyed look.

"Draco calm down, we dealt with it. I'm fine," I said sternly but Draco just rolled his eyes at me. I rolled mine back and stuck out my tongue before Luna interrupted us.

"Oh Harry, the prophet told us this morning that Voldemort is getting the kiss tomorrow morning," Luna said as if it had just occurred to her.

Draco and I both stared at her in shock and hardly noticeable annoyance, "And you didn't think to tell us this before because?" Draco said sneering slightly and Luna blushed from embarrassment, "Luna Lovegood, this is huge. Will Harry's attacks get better then if he's gone?" Draco asked looking hopefully. I felt hope too but I was a little hesitant to feel it.

Luna shook her head, "No, Severus says that if anything they'll increase because he'll be spending all his time trying to take over Harry, and this morning was a little chaotic, we didn't exactly have time to tell you." Draco just rolled his eyes and nodded and I nodded, it made sense but it still worried me. "Alright you two, I'm going downstairs to make some tea, would you like some?" she asked and Draco and I both nodded in response. "Oh, and Harry," she said turning before she left, "I was thinking that perhaps you would like to start up the guitar lessons again? It's been a while since you've played, or sung really," she said sounding dreamy again.

I paused for a moment to think, I supposed it would be a good idea. I gnawed on my lower lip for a moment, "Yeah, sure, I suppose," I muttered, seeing as she was already halfway out the door. Draco looked up at me seeming oddly surprised, "What?" I asked frowning at him.

"I think you should," was all he said.

"What?" I asked feeling more confused than before.

"I think you should," he repeated with earnest, "Maybe it'll help you not be so bloody moody all the time and sort out some of those conflicting thoughts, oh and work out your feelings for a certain vampi-"

"I do not have feelings for any vampire," I blurted out automatically, my cheeks reddening.

Draco levelled me with an 'I'm not stupid Harry' look and raised an eyebrow to accentuate it. "Oh please, Captain Obvious, could you _be_ any more transparent? You're worse than glass," he jibed and I opened my mouth to protest but he just made a noise to stop me from interrupting him, "Honestly Harry, I lived through the whole Ginny fiasco, I know when you like someone. _Hello_, all of Hogwarts knew who you liked three months before you even asked her out. What's holding you back, you pansy? You're clearly his mate and you're clearly into him-"

"Stop," I exclaimed and pulled my legs up to press my knees to my chest, no matter how vulnerable it made me look, it comforted me.

Draco was knocked out of his little rant when he saw just how insecure I felt. "Harry," his voice softened considerably, "What's wrong? Seriously. Is it the whole Ginny thing?" I peaked at him over my knees and mumbled something unintelligible. "Pardon me?" he asked politely with a hint of amused annoyance.

I fidgeted for a moment, "Well, I know he's not like Ginny. He won't betray me to Voldemort or anything like that, but... I do still sort of miss her sometimes and it hurts to think about her..." I rubbed a fist against one of my teary eyes, "And what if he's wrong about the whole mate thing. I mean he thought Bella was his mate... and she clearly wasn't. What if I'm just mistake number 2?" I asked my eyes feeling tearier at the thought of Edward leaving me. "Plus he's just getting over Bella, I don't want to intrude on that... and h-he says he wanted to get to know me better," I shot Draco a hopeful look, but I wasn't sure if he caught it because he had a calculating expression on his face. "D-Drake, I don't think I'd live through it if I screwed this up somehow and things end. I don't even know him but he's already really special to me," I muttered shyly and I blushed again because I felt like some silly teenage girl and hid my face in my knees.

"Well Harry, I hate to break it to you, but you're being irrational," Draco piped up and I looked at him over my knees feeling slightly amused and wondering why I was being called irrational, again. "First of all, it's normal to miss her and feel sad about what happened; it sucked. I'm sure Ron's still chewed up about it too." I nodded in agreement, "Second on all, I've seen how he looks at you, he is not just screwing around and Bella's a human, it was probably her blood screwing with his head, we don't have any scent to them like that so it could only be the bond that's drawing you two together." I smiled softly at this, it gave me some hope. "Third of all, the getting over Bella thing makes sense for him and so the town won't get suspicious and Harry, obviously he wants to get to know you, anyone who doesn't is a fool," he declared and I blushed fiercely again. "Fourth of all, who says that you're going to screw things up? Jeez, Harry, have some more confidence in yourself and fifth of all, if he breaks your heart you'll live, we'll help you though it and we'll kill him for being such a brainless twit." Draco practically growled at me and I felt like my cheeks were radiating enough warmth to heat the room.

I coughed awkwardly, "Well, you seem to be feeling a bit better..." I commented trailing off.

Draco scowled at me, "Actually, no, I feel like shit, but you're being ridiculous." I just rolled my eyes in response.

Luna then pushed open Draco's door while holding a tray with different teas on it so I didn't have to reply. I got up and helped her place it between us and bundled Draco up and as gently as possible, I moved him into a sitting position with his hands and head free from the bundle. He had groaned minutely through that but he seemed more comfortable when I managed to get him settled.

We talked about frivolous things for a long time. I had settled for sitting on the floor, leaning against Draco's bed, as Luna was on the opposite side, we just talked and joked around until the tea was finished and Luna said she was going to go see what she could do about lunch but Draco should try to go to sleep until then.

I decided to leave Draco alone so he could sleep, so I helped him lie down and bid him goodnight before leaving. I frowned as I entered the hall, the cream colours on the walls seemed comforting and I just leaned against Draco's door and stared at them for a while. I frowned some more before I cast a look at Luna's room. I knew it was in there, it had to be; she wouldn't put it anywhere else. Hers was practically her baby, and she thought of mine as its brother. I sighed, I was sure she wouldn't mind me going into her room, not when she pretty much prompted me to.

I stared hard at that door for a moment before I pushed myself off Draco's and went to her room and wrenched the door open. I entered her room, one that was completely cluttered with knickknacks that all had their meanings engraved in Luna's memory and were important to her. Her bed was unmade and her closet was overflowing, but leaning against the far corner wall were two guitars in their cases. From the look of them and the things around them, I could tell she kept that corner clear and just for them, well them and the endless amounts of guitar books she had stacked by them.

I strode over and picked up me guitar case and stared at it for a moment before I held it more securely and took it from the room, closing the door. I went to my room and I sat on my bed. I gently unclasped the case and pulled the guitar out. I set it down on the bed and stared at it for a moment. I remembered when Luna had helped me transfigure this guitar. I had been using hers for several weeks but she had given me the task of finding something that was deeply important to me but I wouldn't miss if it was changed into something else. She had made hers out of a big round glossy black button from her mother's favourite coat, her 'lucky coat' her mother had always claimed. She had transfigured hers into a glossy pure black acoustic guitar that had never needed an amp, Luna's magic made it as loud as she pleased it. I had thought long and hard about it before picking one of the many pictures of my mother and father, in hope that I could feel more physically connected to them. Then she taught me how to do the spell and I turned it into my beautiful guitar which I thought of as not only a mix of my parents but a mix of an electric and acoustic guitar. It had the design of an electric guitar but was made out of wood and was made of a dark brown wood that had tints of red in it. I always thought that it had the sturdiness of my father and the voice of my mother, but in any case, I loved it deeply.

I pulled it up against me and strummed a chord, listening to it ring about the room without any need for an amp. I smiled at it, feeling the sound warm me and the strings and wood cool my fingers. I gave another strum before sitting up a bit and closing my eyes.

"Harry," Draco's whiny interrupted my thoughts. "Harry," he called again when I didn't answer right away, "Can you come here?" he called sounding somewhat pitiful before letting loose a sneeze and a coughing fit.

I sighed and picked up my guitar and took it to Draco's room, "What is it Draco?" I asked him softly from the door.

He smiled at me, clearly trying to look innocent, "I heard you playing with your guitar and I was wondering if maybe you could you maybe, possibly, pretty please, sing me to sleep?"

I snorted before coming in and sitting in the chair by his bed. "Fine," I said as if I was grudgingly allowing it, except my small smile gave me away. He grinned at me and snuggled into his bed and closed his eyes.

I thought back to the position of the first song Luna taught me. She taught it to me note by note and I had quickly memorized it. "Do you mind if it's not exactly a slow song?" I asked him knowing that Draco was picky about that sort of thing. It took me nearly a week when he was insomniac to find a song that would lull him to sleep.

Draco grinned, "Sure, but if I'm not asleep you have to play another."

I just rolled my eyes, "Fine," I allowed, shaking my head at his antics. As I began to play it I felt a smile arise on my lips.

_you've got your lights turn on so they can see you  
the very best of what you've got to offer  
tell them what your hands were made for  
tell them who your mouth was made for_

I grinned, singing was something else entirely; I closed my eyes and continued to sing. I had slowed down the song some to make it easier to sleep to but it did help that it was only the guitar part. I felt so free, I heard my voice and for the first time in a long time I didn't hear his laugh. I felt joy curse through my veins, igniting my heart to fire and my skin to hum as electricity flowed through them. Why had I ever stopped playing? Why had I ever stopped singing?

_you've got your prophets and your mathematicians  
the vocal fuel of a generation  
tell me what my hands were made for  
tell me who my mouth was made for  
and please don't be mad at me  
you'll get what you ask for  
come on come on come on  
come on come on come on_

I felt like that verse was made for me. The prophecy had made my life become something of theirs. It fuelled their arguments against me and for me, my life itself became something everyone knew and everyone thought they deserved. My happiness was forfeit; as long as I saved them they were happy. Everyone told me what I was meant to do, what I was made for and if I ever insinuated that I didn't want to save the world or if they thought I wasn't doing it right, they'd be angry at me, but they didn't realize was that I was working towards defeating him. They didn't need to push me, but they did. They would get what they wanted in the end.

_so very close to what you had expected  
it makes it very hard to keep my head up level  
tell me I'm what your hands were made for  
tell me I'm who your mouth was made for  
if you come down on me  
well you'll get what you ask for_

I smiled softly as I sang that verse, it was true, everyone had their expectations of me, whether it was to be a fool or to be a saviour, and I never seemed to meet them. It made it difficult to figure out who I was in the end; even now I wasn't sure who I was. Even at Hogwarts I found that people were concerned with themselves. I was their saviour, not the saviour of the Wizarding world. They could damn the rest if I saved that one person. Eventually people kept getting on my case about being the saviour and all that, it was infuriating but it did somewhat push me towards my goal.

_come one come on come on  
come one come on come on_

_I-I want to get myself back  
I-I want to get myself back _  
_all of the things that you promised me that you'd be  
now your hands are tired  
and all of the things that you promised me  
that you'd need  
now your hands are tired_

I felt a tear at the edge of my eyes as I played that verse. I had wanted to be myself for so long but I had been unable to do it. It was as if I had to play the part of hero for seven years of my life before I was allowed to go back to meek, shy, 'just Harry.' The thing was that people had promised me things too; they'd promised me that they would be there for me during the war, promised to always love me, but in the end they all had useless excuses for leaving and standing by my side. It was sort of what tied the song all together though, every 'come on' was like a plea for them to not back out of their side of their promise. Every 'come on' was like a plea for them to see I was just a kid and I couldn't seriously be expected to fulfill the prophecy and 'come on' there was more than one person who needed saving, there had to be more purpose in me than just saving the Wizarding world, and lastly, 'come on' there must be more to my life than just killing another person.

_come on come on come on_  
_come on come on come on_  
_come on come on come on_  
_come on come on come on_

I wiped a hand across my face after playing the last chord. I sniffled and sat back and watched Draco; he was breathing slowly and calmly, which would make me think that he was asleep, but I knew better. I waited for a moment before a soft snore, or what Draco called 'heavy breathing,' escaped from him. I smiled softly and very slowly got up and left the room. I put my guitar down on my bed and went downstairs to find Luna. I met up with her in the kitchen where she was making soup and I smiled at her. "Hey," I greeted cheerfully as I sat at one of the stools in the kitchen.

"Hi, so, you sang Draco to sleep?" she said casually but sent me a knowing look while saying it.

I stuck my tongue out at her, "Yeah, I went into your room and kidnapped my guitar, sue me."

She grinned as she stirred the pot, "will do, want some soup?" she asked and I nodded. She spooned a bowl for each of us and we sat and ate while we let Draco rest. Oddly, I hadn't felt this light-hearted in a while.

* * *

Later that day, after giving Draco soup and the others coming home, Carlisle came over to check on Draco. He took a blood sample and did a few other tests, but as far as he could tell, it wasn't anything normal. Severus said that he had his suspicions and would be doing tests too, but he also expressed to Carlisle the urgency of my situation. If Voldemort pushed through my wall that was meant to last a week in a day then Severus would have to resort to more drastic measures and I could end up feeling multiple attacks a day.

For safety the next day I stayed home again, but this time Hermione and Severus stayed to do research so I merely stayed in Draco's room with him as he lay there and moaned about feeling sick. I read him the article about Voldemort's death. He had been given the kiss publicly and I thought that was quite horrible, not only to publicly die but so horrifically too, but Draco was adamant that he deserved it no matter how much I tried to argue my point.

I had several attacks that day, it was terrible, I felt like I was falling apart and the only thing holding me together was Hermione and Severus holding my mind together. It made all sympathy for his public death vanish quite quickly. I played plenty of music for Draco that day; he seemed rather content for that.

After school Ron and Luna brought Edward and Alice back with them. I was happy to see them, very happy, and not just because Draco was making me sing to him like some dancing monkey but I had really missed Edward. When I saw him I practically launched myself into his arms.

"Edward," I cried cheerfully, "I am so happy to see you. I missed you," I grinned up at him from our embrace and he smiled, looking a little embarrassed, down at me.

"Come on lovebirds, let's do something fun. Unlike you Harry, we've all been working all day," Ron teased me knowing full well that being by Draco's bed side at beck and call isn't exactly fun and it is a fair amount of work.

"No fair," Draco called from upstairs, "What am I supposed to do?" he whined.

I winced, "Oh yeah, I forgot I left his door open." I muttered, "Entertain yourself," I called up to him and I could hear the huff of annoyance from down here. I smirked at Ron who grinned.

"I'll stay," Luna said rolling her eyes at us and headed upstairs.

"Suit yourself," Ron called after her and Hermione cuffed the back his head.

"I'm staying too, I need to do more research," she said and bid us goodbye.

I frowned, "Hmm, perhaps then we should just stay home? Watch a movie or something? That way Draco won't whine at us?" I asked Ron and glanced at the other two who smiled and nodded, showing their agreement.

Ron sighed over dramatically, "_Fine_, I'll go tell the big baby... You want to help drag him down here Alice?" Ron asked casually and she giggled and nodded, following after him.

"We'll pick a movie then," I called up to them and grabbed Edward's hand, pulling him towards our collection. Once we were by our new and vast collection I asked him what he wanted to watch. "We have all sorts of movies, comedies, horrors, action, romance, drama, a few classic musicals..." I trailed off pointing where they were.

Edward hummed as if this was a very serious decision and couldn't be made without much thought, "Well, what sort of movies do you like?" He asked sounding curious.

I smiled softly, "I really like comedies, dramas and romantic movies, I've seen enough horror and action to last me a lifetime, and of course the musicals. Those belong to Luna and I. Ron likes the action and comedies and Draco likes really dry comedies, cheesy horror movies, which I find I don't mind sometimes," I shrugged at this, "and dramas, oh and really old classic musical movies like My Fair Lady sort of deal, you know? Hermione likes dramas and romances, and Luna likes anything. Oh, and Severus likes horrors, dramas and actions, he hates romance movies though, but that's probably because they remind him of my mother."

Edward chuckled softly and kissed the side of my head, which made me blush and grin stupidly for a moment, "I mean you, not your whole family," he chuckled again and wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my head as he looked them over, "Hmm, alright, why not something for everyone?"

"Which is?" I asked softly, swaying slightly in his arms with a smile on my lips.

He paused for a second, "This one," he finally said pulling it out and he was answered by Alice shouting yes from upstairs. I grinned at the stairs and nodded.

Once we were all settled in Edward popped in the movie and I snuggled up to his side to watch an impromptu showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Draco and Ron crowed happily and started talking about making toast and getting the water guns out. Alice just giggled and Luna bounced on her knees from a very cushioned seat exclaiming and joining Ron and Draco's discussion. Edward and I merely settled in to watch and joked and laughed with the others during the movie.

After the movie we went off in our own directions. Alice and Ron decided to play chess, both wearing smirks and I couldn't wait to see who would win. Draco lay down on the couch and Luna sat by him while the two talked. I just smiled at them; I could tell Luna loved having him all to herself and I didn't want to disrupt them. Hermione had been researching the whole time and I knew if I went to see her she would react like a lioness whose cub was in danger. It wouldn't be a pretty sight, so Edward and I retreated into the backyard, which suited us just fine.

I stuck my hands in my pockets, feeling the texture of the denim as I subtly tried to wipe the nervous sweat off my hands. Being around Edward made me feel nervous and yet calm at the same time; it excited my emotions in so many different ways I felt frayed at the ends just being around him.

I silently observed the garden for a moment, the grass was a lush green and the forest around the house shielding any curious eyes. There was a small bench on the left side of the yard that faced the rest of the yard and the trees by a small flower garden that was budding with life and I breathed a deep sigh quietly and wrapped my arms around my torso, the cold fall breeze bringing shivers to my skin.

I felt a warm arm wrap around me for a moment before it suddenly pulled away, "Oh, sorry, I suppose that won't help," Edward muttered, pulling his arm away and I looked up at him in confusion. "My skin, it's cold," he explained and gently plucked up my hand and held it.

I blinked up at him and smiled softly and wrapped my other hand around his, "Not to me," I said softly and held his arm hand. Edward looked surprised as I slowly lifted it and placed it against my cheek, leaning against it with my eyes closed, enjoying the warmth and forgetting our boundaries.

I let his hand drop slowly when I remembered that we were only mean to be friends. I smiled softly in apology and wandered over to the bench and sat down. Edward came and sat with me, his arm wrapping around my shoulders, "So, I don't feel cold?" He asked frowning.

I looked up at him and shook my head, "Not you, the others, yes, but not you... must be my magic or the fact that we're mates," I said trialing off and smiled softly after. "Does that bother you?"

Edward shook his head, his eyes wide, "Not at all, I'm just surprised," he muttered gazing down at me, his soft amber eyes swimming with life. "Harry," he said softly, "I really missed you this last day. I didn't realize I would, but I do. Harry, I know we said we'd wait and get to know each other more, but I can't stand the thought of you not being with me." Edward's eyes showing passion I'd never seen in someone for me. "Harry, please, will you do me the honour of going out with me?" he asked his eyes sincere and I smiled softly, my heart feeling as if it couldn't contain its joy.

I nodded quickly and Edward hugged me close then; he buried his nose in the junction between my shoulder and neck. He sniffed the spot there and I smiled, feeling his lips pressed again the skin there for only a moment. I pulled my arms tighter around him and I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of right from the action. I turned my head and kissed his cheek softly and closed my eyes, feeling calming warmth cursing through my bones.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey, sorry for taking forever, there was a slight crash of the computer and then I was hit with writer's block and had a mountain of homework. I hope you all still love me –fingers crossed- lol.**

**I must reveal that in this chapter it does take a dark/sad turn... I'm sorry, it had always been part of the plotline, but it was a tad bit fuelled by the happenings of my life at the moment (sorry...)**

**Enjoy and try not to cry or anything...**

**Chapter 7**

**(Harry's POV)**

I smiled softly as I woke the next morning, a giggle broke through my lips and I pressed a hand to my mouth and I shook my head, feeling giddy. Edward Cullen had asked me out, and afterwards we had stayed on the bench talking to each other for hours until Severus called me in for dinner and Alice said that she was heading back to their house.

I practically bounced right out of bed and headed to the washroom, softly singing under my breath. I could help but feel happy as I went through my routine. I checked my wall as I brushed my teeth and felt a cooling sense of calm when I realized that it was intact and was fully functioning.

As I wandered downstairs it occurred to me that no one should be awake at this hour, seeing as it was almost 5 in the morning, so I went down to get myself a bowl of cereal because I wasn't tired enough to sleep. I wandered in to find a peculiar sight though; Severus was sitting at the counter, his head in his hands, looking rugged and exhausted. "Severus?" I called softly, approaching slowly.

I heard him give a heavy sigh, "Good morning Harry," he murmured softly, he dropped his hands and my eyes widened at the sight of the dark bags under his eyes.

"What happened?" I asked coming over to him and sitting on the stool next to his.

He gave a harsh scoff, "You would be concerned, wouldn't you? Always having to deal with everyone's problems..." I was silent, listening to his very strange rant and feeling, for not the first time in Severus' presence, scared. The weary man rubbed a hand across his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry Harry, but this is one time where you will not be able to play the hero," he said so softly I almost missed it.

I waited for him to continue, but he didn't so I prompted him by saying, "Why? What are you talking about?" My brow furrowed as I gazed into his tired eyes, he seemed so distressed, so visibly distraught, and it bothered me greatly.

He looked over at me sadly, "Draco, he's sick," he told me, which caused me to frown.

I smiled softly and gave a small hiccup of a laugh, "I know," we were both quiet for a moment, "With what?" I asked him, he clearly knew, hence why he was so upset, but what was it that was making him so upset? It had to be bad then, didn't it?

Severus took a small breath and his hands wrapped around a glass that I hadn't noticed on the table. It was filled with an amber coloured liquid and I narrowed my eyes at it, firewhiskey. I felt a slight tremble of anger and disappointment curse through me before I decided that this time, I'd let it go. I could get mad at him later. "He's got Juliall Disease," he said quietly, and nothing else. I frowned, I had no idea what that was; perhaps if I was Hermione I would have, but I wasn't so I asked him. He lifted the glass in a hardly noticeably shaking hand and took a small sip of the liquid, "It's a disease," he began slowly, "caused by one's person being exposed to multiple dark spells that are intended to cause harm," he stared off into the distance, his voice lacking emotion. "Your bone marrow begins to stop replacing white blood cells, that's why he's been so sick." He glanced over at me, "Its common among Death Eaters, and their victims."

It suddenly hit me why Draco had that disease; I felt anger boil in my veins and tears cascaded down my cheeks. I felt my whole body seize up as I spat out, "If his father wasn't already dead... I'd wring that foul pureblood's filthy neck." Draco's father had punished Draco for years using dark spells, including the Cruciatus curse.

Severus took another swig of firewhiskey, "You would have to get in line," he hissed.

I swallowed the foul bitter taste of anger in my mouth, "H-how do you cure it?" I asked feeling fearful of the answer. Severus Snape was sitting at five in the morning drinking firewhiskey, if the treatment was simple, he would have just made it.

Snape set the glass down and pushed it away, "A bone marrow transplant," he said softly, "However, it must come from a family member, and a decently close one at that. The likelihood of it is very small, and with nearly all of Malfoy's close family gone..." he trailed, casting me a sidelong glance and I felt doom enter my heart.

My face dropped and I felt a sense of despair wash over me, "So... he's screwed."

Severus took a long drink of the firewhiskey and with a surprising amount of honour, wiped his fingers under his eyes to catch small droplets from his eyes. He looked away and sniffed, "Yes Harry, he's as good as a dead man."

I shook my head in denial, "No, no Severus, there must be someone, what about Luna? Or me? Or Ron? Or even you?" I asked desperately, "Or Andromeda?"

Severus shook his head, "I flooed her already, she got me her documents, it's not a match and neither am I, and from Poppy's records neither are you, Ron or Luna. She also tested you for the disease shortly after arriving at Hogwarts, you're clean, and I suppose you still are because Poppy ran the tests for me throughout my stay at Hogwarts, even when I asked her not to, and most likely did the same for other students affected by dark magic." Severus shook his head again, looking, for the first time I could remember, visibly tormented by his thoughts, "It's such a damn shame too," he growled, "I checked some records, most of the Black family would have been matches." He placed his head in his hands again and his back began to shake with his tears. Not knowing what to do, I scooted over and placed an arm around him and rested my head on his shoulder. A tear fell down my cheek; no matter how much we both wished there was a way, that were was someone, anyone, there was no one to save Draco.

**(Draco's POV)**

I stared up at the ceiling, counting the chips in the paint, again. There were two only, which added to the dreariness of the action. Severus entered the room, he was solemn, and not only internally. He wandered over to my bedside. He pulled my chair over and sat perched there quietly for a while. "Sev?" I asked softly, my voice raspy from not speaking for a while. I cleared my throat as Severus appeared to be gathering his thoughts.

"Here," he murmured, handing me a vial containing liquid I could tell from my years of spending time in the lab of Severus Snape, silently observing him prepare potions while I escaped my depressing life, was a pain relieving potion, and a strong one at that. I took it from his long spinally fingers and drained it.

Almost instantly I felt relief surge through my bones and muscles, the nerves singing thanks for the reprieve. I looked up at him expectantly. "So did you figure it out?" I tried to keep some hope in my voice but all of Severus' actions said that he and it wasn't good.

Severus sighed, "Draco, I did indeed deduce what it is that ails you," I patiently waited for him to reveal the great secret. "You have Juliall Disease; do you know what that is?" He asked and I shook my head slowly, wracking my brain for any mention of it. Severus gently took my left hand in his. I felt a spike of fear in me. Severus never did anything like this, ever. It frightened me. "Do you hurt?" he asked in a whisper.

"Just tell me," I finally demanded, because I couldn't handle waiting for my verdict anymore.

Severus nodded and gripped my hand, something I was grateful and terrified of all at the same time. "Juliall Disease is a condition that individuals get when they've been subjected to Dark spells frequently without adequate care after. It is common among Death Eaters and their victims." He let that sink for a moment. Shock ripped through me; my father, my father was the reason for this; my father who had tortured me with firsts and Cruciatus and the like. I looked p at Severus, feeling oddly betrayed by my father, even through I'd known for a long time that Lucius never cared for me.

"What does it cause?" I forced out of my throat.

Severus winced slightly, "Well, the disease begins by attacking one's bone marrow. There it destroys the marrow's ability to create properly functioning white blood cells. The cells either begin attacking everything or they stop functioning making those with the disease sick in many different ways and can only be tested with blood. I thought surely Madam Pomfrey checked you; she checked me even when I asked her not to and I know she checked harry without his knowledge." He trailed off there, clearly finding it difficult to say by how often he squeezed my hand. Hell, it was hard to hear, despair was seeping into my useless bones. He visibly gulped before continuing, "That's why you were sick, and since pain relievers don't affect it I'm able to give you the highest dosage I can."

I nodded slowly, "What the cure?" I asked frowning "Is there one?"

He nodded slowly, "Yes," he gripped my hand so tightly I felt like he was going to break a bone in it at least. "However it requires a closely related relative to have a bone marrow match... there is no such person."

I let this sink in. "How long?" I asked softly when the silence had taken up an ominous presence.

Severus sighed, "It's different for everyone, sometimes it turns fatal after a couple days, for others it takes months; although, I've never heard of someone surviving more than a year with it."

I took a deep breath and pulled the covers off with my free hand, " Alright," I said easily and Severus released my hand, "Well I won't just be sitting here waiting to die," I spat defiantly. Severus looked up at me with something akin to worried pride, I chose to ignore it. "I'm going to spend this time living Merlin-damn-it." I ground out and swept from the room. Merlin curse me if I didn't spend my last days living instead of waiting to die.

I was just finishing up my morning routine when Harry's screams echoed through the house. I bolted from the bathroom, nearly colliding with Ron and Luna as they made their way downstairs. Luna frowned up at me as we ran down the stairs, "Draco? How? What?" She seemed flustered by my seemingly fine appearance. I just shook my head and we arrived in the kitchen, with Hermione stumbling into us as we watched a red eyed Harry and Severus wrestle on the floor.

They were both still yelling at each other as I grabbed my wand from the waistband of my jeans and aimed at the two, I waited for the perfect shot and when I had I shot a stunner at Harry. It hit its target and he slumped into unconsciousness. Severus pressed his hands to Harry's temples and a look of intense concentration upon his face.

I walked over to Harry's side and stood over them, watching Harry for any signs of consciousness. After a few moments Severus pulled away with a sigh and sat up; Harry then let out a small sigh and his eyes fluttered open, a bright green. He looked up at Severus, "Thank you, again," he whispered smiling softly.

"Don't thank me yet," Severus growled swiftly getting up and then hoisting Harry onto his unsteady feet. I grabbed his shoulder to still him when he swayed slightly and Severus let out an exasperated sigh, "Harry, I'm sorry," he whispered and Harry looked at him in some form of aghast. Severus rarely apologized and I couldn't detect a reason for him to be doing so. "I had to set up a wall, a stronger one than before, that will keep him from gaining access into your mind or your magic." Harry looked impressed and thankful for that, "But," Severus warned, "In order to do that, I had to block off your ability to reach your magic as well." Harry's face fell with a look of pure devastation. "The wall is temporary and only I can take it down, but if it's kept up for a long period of time... the effects could be permanent."

"I could lose my magic," Harry summarized, suddenly finding his now magic-less hands of great interest. I moved to touch his shoulder again but he pulled away from me before I could even lay a hand on him. "I'm going to school," he announced abruptly, ignoring that it was entirely too early to be heading to school. He swiftly walked away in the direction of the front door.

Severus shot me a look, one I knew very well. It was the 'watch him, _closely_,' look that Severus only aimed at me and it always regarded Harry. While Harry was adamant that he was an adult and part of the war effort and didn't need to be taken care of and was 100 percent sure that he was taking care of us and all that jazz, Severus was just as determined to have eyes and ears on Harry at all times, and those usually belonged to me. I nodded once and made for the door. "Severus," I called stopping at the doorway, glancing over my shoulder just slightly to see them all still, watching me. "Please tell them of my condition," I murmured and headed out after Harry.

I grabbed my bag by the front door and left through the still open door, Harry was standing on the porch, his arms wrapped around him in some attempt to give him comfort. I stood beside him, waiting for him to acknowledge me. Harry took in a shuddering breath and looked up at me with eyes willed to the brink with water, "Draco," his voice cracked just as his face did and a look of pure anguish and sorrow passed onto his face and he just leaned forward until his face collided with my shoulder. I held him there in silence; I couldn't imagine the feeling of having my magic taken from me. It was worse than impending death in my views; it was everything to me, and not only because I didn't know how to live as a Muggle, but because when I was a kid it was the only hope I had. Harry and I had talked once about how magic was the only thing that kept us going, the hope that one day we could use it to escape and be free for once. Even with the contradicting views our caretakers had on magic, mine being that they encouraged it and Harry's being that they deterred it, we saw that with magic came power, and if we had enough, we could find a way to get out.

"Come on," I whispered coaxing him down the steps, "let's go to school," he nodded, his face a little blotchy from crying. We began to make the long walk to school, as Hermione was the only one who knew how to drive. It was mostly silent every once in a while Harry or I would start a trivial conversation but it would soon die.

Once we made it to school Harry led me over to a pair of picnic tables, the same ones I had found him with Edward one time. "Are you going to be alright?" I asked once we were seated.

Harry looked up at me and shook his head, "If my tears were just for my magic then maybe," he looked up at me with knowing green eyes and I sighed, "Sev told me," he whispered, "I found him in the kitchen drinking firewhiskey..." He trailed off, looking for once like a lost child, "It's so unfair," Harry began to cry again, and I felt oddly touched that he so strongly about my death, something I thought at one time no one would mind. "I thought this was over, I really did," I gathered him into my arms, acknowledging to myself that it was a rare oddity for Harry to cry. I held him for what felt like hours and seconds at the same time, before I felt an ice cold hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Edward Cullen who was gazing down at us with an expression which I could only describe a fearfully concerned and yet playing the part of calm and composed.

I smiled softly at him and pulled away from Harry, who looked up at me with a confused look only to see Edward and gave a shy smile to him. Edward smiled back and gathered Harry into his arms, holding him there while Harry smiled contently. "Harry," Edward asked suddenly, "why are you shivering?" he asked pulling away slightly and pulling Harry's coat more securely around him. Harry visibly trembled and clung to Edward more and looked at me pleadingly.

I took in a deep breath, steeling my emotions and squared my shoulders, "A few revelations came to us today." I started, "They found my illness, I have a disease that can only be cured with a bone marrow transplant of a close relative that's a match, I have no such person," I swallowed, pointedly ignoring the way Harry's face crumpled in pain and the helplessness on Edward's face. "Harry had another attack this morning. Severus put up another wall, but this one also blocks his magic to say the least, we're both a little bit upset."

Edward pulled Harry closer to himself and I felt a pang of longing to do that to someone else, someone with shimmering long blonde hair and a strange quirky attitude that lightened my heart. I suddenly felt like I had been punched in the gut, thinking that I had run out of time; I would never be with Luna like that, I would never get to grow old with her and learn to love new things about her every day.

"Why are you shivering though, Harry, am I cold?" Edward asked his eyes wide with fear as he gently ran a finger down his cheek.

Harry shook his head his eyes shining up at Edward, "No, you're still warm. It's just very cold today, and upset," he said a burrowed into Edward's arms before pulling away abruptly, "Oh Draco, I'm sorry," he suddenly blurted causing me to frown in confusion, "I've been a right prat. I've been wailing all over you and complaining about my stupid magic when you- when you-" he cut off there. His eyes were wide with despondency and the words seemed to choke him on the way out.

"Harry," I said with an air of annoyance, "You know me, I'm not a crier and I'm not going to start complaining about my pathetic life. Although I may be upset by the news, I'd rather it was me than any of you, and furthermore, I'd rather live life normally until it's," I paused for a second, turning to gaze out at the parking lot where people were trickling in for school. I looked back at the two who were patiently waiting for the news, "I'd rather live a normal life until it's too late."

Harry nodded and swallowed down whatever pain was in his eyes and squared his shoulders in some attempt to look put together, although I knew it broke his heart to think of my impending death. In the parking lot I saw our car pull up, I got off the picnic table and smiled at them, "Harry, everybody dies, some just die earlier than others." Harry's eyes filled with tears but he held them back, as usual, "And everybody gets upset, but it's the strong who sob." I gave Harry a knowing look and gave a small nod before I turned and walked away.

**(Harry's POV)**

Huddled in Edward's warm arms I let out a strangled laugh and hugged Edward, letting some tears fall on his jacket. "What did he mean by that?" Edward asked sounding thoroughly confused.

I sighed and pulled away, wiping my eyes. "Back at school I was trying to console him because I was supposed to die in the final battle and it was the first time he'd heard that, so I told him 'everybody dies, some just die a little earlier than others.' He didn't take it that well, I think because Severus and a few others were starting to put pressure on him watching out for me and it was all going to be for nothing, and I was a little upset over the idea. He was practically hysterical in the front hall where everyone could hear us and they were in the great hall watching Draco basically fall apart, so I for some stupid reason I told him 'the weak cry in public,' thinking that would make him calm down, if just for appearances. He rounded on me and chewed me out pretty good that he wasn't ashamed of crying and how I ought to be more concerned for myself and that we're all weak and in the words of Luna, he 'had a bit of a moment.' When he finally calmed down he told me that everyone can get upset, but it takes someone strong to admit their feelings in front of all of Hogwarts, to which he turned around and shouted at everyone in the hall to mind their own damn business." I chuckled softly, "I'd never seen them go back to a meal faster."

Edward smiled down at me and rubbed my back slowly, "You've got very eccentric friends," he whispered in my ear and kissed my temple. I chuckled as I watched Draco meet up with the others who all hugged him tightly on sight.

I nodded before my eyes widened, "Damn," I whispered and looked up at him, "Luna is going to be so choked." I slowly got off the picnic bench as the bell was about to ring.

Edward got up at well, his arm around my waist. "Why is that?" Edward asked gazing down at me with some confusion.

I blushed slightly and smiled softly up at him, "Well, she's been pretty much in love with him since her second year apparently," I sighed. "Well except for a while during sixth year, because I convinced her Draco likes her, which he does, he's always just been waiting for the right time to tell her, she became suddenly terrified of the prospect of him liking her and has denied it since then... until recently anyways."

Edward looked thoughtful at this, "That seems oddly terrible, to love each other and too afraid of admit it, but I thought Luna's a seer; can't she tell that he likes her?"

I sighed heavily, "Well see, Luna's held onto this idea that there's a time for everything and everything happens for a reason, and to interfere with the course of history isn't a good idea. So instead of altering it in any way, she merely waits for the time when she's supposed to. So, perhaps she knows that Draco likes her and would agree to go out with her, but she refuses to acknowledge it yet because it hasn't played out like she's seen it."

The two of us walked slowly over to meet up with them and I couldn't help but feel a sense of doom in the horizon, my heart was aching for Luna and Draco, Draco especially. He had grown up without someone who loved him unconditionally, but he had grown to love Luna despite every imperfection she carried and loved her just the same. He once told me that he saw an innocence in her that he wished to gain by osmosis, because that was the only way he would ever witness any of it. Draco had revealed to me that day that he didn't feel he deserved her, something the 'spoiled rich boy' image he portrayed went completely against; Draco was meant to believe he deserved everything life had to offer and more, but he felt unworthy of a small blonde-headed seer who believed in silly things. The belief that he was unworthy of a girl who didn't mind when people stole her things or made fun of her, and not because she had any belief she was above them and therefore their actions didn't affect her, but because she acknowledged that they didn't know her and couldn't make judgement upon what little they'd seen, was preposterous to anyone who didn't see past the facade, which was most people. He believed he was too tainted by darkness for her to love him, and if I hadn't stepped in during sixth year he might have been, but Luna did love him, no matter the terrible things he pulled or almost pulled, she saw something in him that was so good it was worth the times when he was at his worst. I glanced up at Edward, I wondered if he loved me like that, or if I loved him like that. I reasoned that I hadn't seen the worst of Edward to know, but still, I felt something like their love only came once in a while and I couldn't help the ache in my heart at the thought of them never realizing just how much they meant to each other.

I shook my head and sighed, "If-" I couldn't say it, I closed my eyes and stopped walking. Edward seemed in tune with my emotions, realizing that whatever I was about to say was going to be difficult, so he stopped and moved in front of me so that I was mostly blocked from sight. "If D-Draco d-dies," I stuttered out, staring at his chest, trying to make my mouth move according to my thoughts, "and they don't realize how much they mean to each other-" I broke off and shook my head, "I won't be able to stand it. They love each other so much, why can't they just see that?" I asked him looking up at him finally feeling lost and his eyes stared down at me with molten fiery amber in them.

He gently took my face in his hands and guided mine to his, and for the briefest moment his lips touched mine and I felt like the world was electrified. He pulled away, his hand cupping my face, "Harry James Potter," he whispered, "I swear to you, everything is going to be okay, I promise." His eyes were filled with such honesty I believed him completely. He gathered me into his arms again and we stood there hugging for a moment, "We can work something out, there must be something that can be done. Even if we have to lock them up in a room together and wait until they tell each other. I promise you, everything will be alright." I stayed in his arms, the two of us swaying ever so slightly; I wasn't sure if I believed him, but being nestled in his arms did comfort me. I smiled as I burrowed into the cocoon of his arms, not caring the rest of the school were arriving around us and probably saw the display; I had never felt as at peace in chaos as I had at that very moment. It felt good. It felt like living.

**A/N: Juliall Disease does not actually exist or anything, just in case you were wondering and I lay claim to it! I made it up, it's the combination of my two brother's middle names... (Julian and Hall, don't ask... seriously) but yes, it does have some basic connections to leukemia/****leukaemia**** but obviously, not really the same. That's what you get when you listen to too much Jack's Mannequin (my favourite artist, in case you wanted to know).**

**This is not the end (obviously) because there is much left to resolve (again, obviously). I just felt like Harry needed some comfort at the end of the chapter.**

**As you can see, there was a Draco POV, tell me what you thought of that and what you think of there being other character POVs or if I should just stick to Harry/Edward sort of thing.**

**Until next time, I'll try to update faster, and sorry for any mistakes there are. I have no Beta (btw, if anyone likes, they can Beta this... yes? no? okay. lol)  
**

**Thanks guys and review please.**


	9. Chapter 8

_**Sorry for the lack of updates, got no excuses but writer's block and business.**_

_**Oh yeah, and I just realized that was deleting the convenient little 'hey, this is a scene/time change' lines that I've been putting in. So if you see**_** TJLTJLTJLTJL**_** a bunch of times, yeah, scene and/or time change. You will probably be able to tell.**_

_**Enjoy**_

**Chapter 8**

**(Harry's POV)**

I sighed impatiently as I waited for our last morning class to finish. Draco glanced at me with a small smile on his face; clearly, he knew what I was frustrated about. Our classmates were shooting us, or more specifically me, looks all morning, well, ever since Jessica caught up to me in the hall and practically shouted at me for not telling her that I was with Edward. I still wasn't sure why it was any of her business. Then to shock the rest of the school to bits, I may or may not have told her, out loud, that it wasn't her business and I had bigger things to deal with than that petty conversation. People have been staring at me as if they can't believe that I can suddenly speak and dating Edward, and I just wanted to escape it.

Once the bell rang I was out of my desk and packing up my bag. Draco and I walked out that class and headed to the cafeteria, I glanced at him and he looked at me as if he was expecting something, what I wasn't sure. "Why are you so tense?" I asked him in a whisper.

He seemed to do a bit of a scan of the area before saying quietly so that only I'd hear, "I'm pretty sure Ms. Swan isn't too pleased with you right now. I'm just making sure nothing is going to happen to you, especially since... you know?"

I stopped walking at that and my eyes widened because it had just occurred to me. Without my magic I was completely defenceless, all that time and energy put into training and learning spells was for nothing right now. I had absolutely no way of protecting myself against anyone, especially because I wasn't any good with physical fighting. "Harry?" Draco's voice seemed sort of far away and I felt fear rising at a frightening degree. I looked up at him with wide eyes. I tried to move my mouth to tell him something, anything, but it wasn't working. I took a deep breath and tried again, but it wasn't working. I vaguely noticed people were staring at me weirdly and I felt a hand grip my arm and I panicked. For the first time since I was little I was completely defenceless against people, completely unable to stop them from hurting me.

I pulled away hard from the person who was gripping my arm and bolted down the hall. I heard someone call my name but I couldn't be sure who it was. I dropped my bag because it was weighing me down and head was spinning. I didn't know where I could go that was safe, there was nowhere.

That was when I almost ran straight into someone; I stopped though, my eyes wide with terror. Bella Swan was staring at me with eyes filled to the brim with loathing and I couldn't stop my breath from quickening and I realized yet again my voice wasn't functioning. There were a few people around that had stopped and were watching us but not a huge crowd and no one was close enough to stop her if she decided to attack me. "You," she spat out, visibly shaking with rage. "You, stupid little-" she seemed unable to find a word so demeaning for me, "You've ruined everything!" she shrieked at me and I felt like my stomach was trying to work its way up my oesophagus. "I hate you," she hissed at me and reached back a hand to slap me. Somewhere in my brain responded instantly and I turned my face away, cowering and squeezing my eyes shut. I felt her hand connect with my cheek and I took a stumbled step back.

I stared at her blatant hate for me and I felt myself begin to shake. I'd not see that much anger in someone's eyes since Voldemort and before that my Uncle. I couldn't handle it, I really couldn't. I looked around for an escape and I realized that the gossip hounds around us had slowly been closing in and now I felt certain that if I tried to make an escape that they'd merely push me back. I felt my breath quicken again and my head started to fill with a haze I couldn't think past.

"What is going on here?" Severus' deep voice penetrated the fog long enough for me to catch my breath. I hadn't realized I was still backing up until I hit a bunch of lockers and I felt my knees go weak but I tried my damnedest to not let them buckle. Bella shot me one more look of wanting my death before looking at Severus who was giving his own death glare to which I could tell shocked her. "Ms. Swan, care to explain why Mr. Potter here is against the lockers with a handprint on his face?"

She looked livid and refused to answer. Finally Severus directed her to go to the principal's office and wait for him there and pretty much demanded everyone else to get lost. He approached me slowly as I was still shaking and taking huge breathes that never seemed enough. He lowered his face so we were at the same level and looked into my eyes, "Harry," he said softly, "We're in America Harry, and Voldemort is dead, remember?" he asked like he knew exactly why I was so frightened.

I nodded, still unable to catch my breath. I tried to get my mouth to tell him I needed to sit down, but it still wasn't working. I grew frustrated, but Severus seemed to know what I wanted because he put an arm around my shoulder and lead me towards his classroom which was just a little down the hall. Once we entered I saw that Luna was already there, and her eyes were red. She hopped off the table she was sitting on and came over to envelope me in a hug. I held on, trying to slow my breaths to match hers, it was working, very slowly.

Once the two of them got me seated, Luna hugged me while I told them what happened and used Luna's presence to ground me. Once I was finished explaining I let myself be comforted by Luna's presence and Severus left to deal with Bella.

**(Luna's POV)** **(A few minutes previous)**

Fate was truly heartless, cruel. I sat in Severus' classroom tears running down my face and I did nothing to stop them. There was nothing for it, and Severus knew I needed to do this in the presence of no one else. Severus sat across from me in silence, waiting for me to speak. He had our lunches spread out in front of us, a silent reminder of our lives were continuing on, time was passing around us. I sighed and closed my eyes, wiping the remains of tears away. "I'm sorry," I whispered touching my sandwich but not picking it up. "I just- the thought of him- this isn't how-" I felt that the world was falling apart, "I know how it ends, but... oh God, is there no way for me to change what I've seen it? Is there no way that what I've seen is mere trickery, an illusion meant to confuse me from the path fate wishes to take me?" I asked him tears falling down my cheeks again.

Severus' eyebrows pulled together in confusion, "Luna, how does it end?" he asked as softly as possible for Severus.

I swallowed and looked up at him, "He tells me he loves me as he dies in my arms, but..."  
I trailed off, shaking my head, "We're older, much older, this isn't supposed to happen now, but how can he survive this for so long when I know he's going to be too sick in a few days? I can't stand it, his impending doom; it looms closer every day, the images of his death dwindling down by years every minute."

Severus seemed to ponder this and remained silent as I shook with renewed sobs. I stopped crying suddenly, seeing the future take shape in my mind, two outcomes presented itself and I observed them both as I opened my mouth to alert Severus. I closed my mouth and thought about it for a moment. "Severus, Harry is about to be attacked by Bella Swan in the hallway, but if you interrupt her before she lets out her anger at him, the consequences will be much worse than if she is unable to get whatever she is looking for out of the confrontation."

Severus looked weary at this, "Luna Lovegood, you are speaking in tongues again." He teased me in his dour way. "What will she do if I interrupt their fight right out that is so much worse that her attacking Harry right now in this moment?"

I debated telling him for only a moment before I decided it was okay because even if he decided to go against my judgement, I was sure Severus would do everything in his power to help Harry. I pulled out my phone fast when I saw several outcomes and texted Alice to ask her not to reveal the upcoming fight to the others until we had Harry safe and calmed somewhat before bringing the others and to let Severus deal with it and to make sure Draco doesn't interact with Bella as he will do serious damage to her, incurring more of her wrath.

I told Severus as I did this that Bella would do far more public and visible humiliation to Harry, whereas she would merely strike him once if Severus interrupted it at the right moment. She would harm his slowly growing confidence in himself and make him curl back into himself when this confrontation would merely make him do that until we calmed him down again.

"You'll want to leave now," I told him softy and he was up out of his chair in an instant and was heading out the door and down the hall. He returned shortly after with a shaking and gasping Harry and I hopped off my chair, feeling immensely guilty that I was unable to save him from both interactions with the Swan and pulled him into a hug, wishing fiercely that I hadn't condoned this by his shaking and sobs.

He slowly calmed down and repeated the events, some of which Severus already knew from me but he didn't say that, I assume because he knew I felt guilty for allowing Harry to be hurt like this. When he left I stayed hugging him and waiting for the others to arrive as they would soon.

I sighed, I knew as soon as Edward was here he would calm down completely and I wish I had that with Draco, but it seemed be our fate to never reveal our love to one another. Edward burst through the door exactly then startling us both and causing Harry to squeak with fear and burrow his face in my shoulder, whimpering unintelligibly.

"Harry," Edward whispered like Harry was the most beautiful, treasured artefact he'd ever found and although he found him broken, he was still the greater treasure to walk the earth. I looked over at Draco who looked like he was restraining himself from getting angry, but not anyone but himself. I let go of Harry as Edward came and enveloped him in a hug, letting him deal with his distressed mate. I went over to Draco and took his hand in mine as I pulled him into the hall.

Draco looked down at me in confusion when we were outside with the door closed. "Do not be angry at yourself," I told him, "I asked Alice to intercept you and make sure you didn't go after Harry."

Draco stared at me with an expression so filled with hurt I had to look away from him, "I understand if you are angry at me, but you must understand, if Bella had not gotten to give Harry a taste of her angry then she would have been much worse later." I took a shuddering breath, "and if you had interrupted her she would have claimed Harry was playing around with both Edward and you. It would have destroyed Harry that he couldn't control the rumours about him even here and I couldn't let all his hard work be undone... Severus stopped her, he will be okay."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, his voice filled with such venom it made me wince. "Harry is in pieces," he hissed at me and I cringed, tears bubbling up and I closed my eyes in attempt to reign in my emotions.

"I know," I said my voice full of emotion and regret, "But I didn't know what to do. It's such a burden, to know much I let him be hurt and yet I know I saved him from greater pain. How can I ever atone for this sin? There is nothing. I have hurt my best friend." I felt tears on my cheeks again and I couldn't look at Draco. I rubbed my eyes vehemently, "I am no better than Dumbledore," I whispered feeling broken by Draco's silent anger.

"No," Draco sighed softly and I felt surprise for the first time in a long time, "No, you're not as bad as him. He didn't regret putting Harry in the positions he set him in." Draco watched me for a moment, "I know you do, you wouldn't do this unless you knew it was better for him."

I hiccupped, my chest hurting at the thought of Harry in pain because I let him be so. "I hate this, I hate my life, I hate my seeing." I had not felt so much despair over my own life in a long time. I pressed my hands to my face in attempt to hide my misery.

I felt arms around me and I shook as I rested my head on his shoulder, "Do not say such things," he whispered in my ear. "You may hate this situation, and you may dislike your seeing, but do not hate your life. It is a gift to us," I clung to him, not truly believing him, and yet feeling comforted. I would still need to do much work to atone for the pain I'd caused Harry, but Draco was not mad at me, and Draco was not mad at himself. I supposed for now that would have to do. I myself I would make it up to him, if it was the last thing I did.

**(Edward's POV)**

I gathered the small quivering bundle into my arms and held his shaking form to me. I gently shushed him, rocking back and forth, "It's going to be alright Harry, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. No one will hurt you," I assured him, lulling him into security. He very slowly calmed down and I gently look his face into my hands and frowned when I saw the still bright red handprint on his face. The sight made the vampire in me weep for the pain of my mate and furious at whomever dared to harm him at the same time. It was an intense pull of the two emotions and I had to acknowledge the anger in me but at the same time, push it down and let the angst of seeing him hurt rest at the forefront of my mind as Harry needed comfort right now, not a promise of revenge.

He looked away, obviously feeling some form of shame as he placed a hand there, the vampire in me gnashed his teeth at the thought of tearing apart the one who did this, but again I had to let that side rest for now in acknowledgement that now was not the time.

Harry seemed lost for words for a moment, looking to Hermione and Ron for answers. Hermione came forwards after a few seconds and took his other hand into hers, "Harry, it's okay, this wasn't your fault. You're good Harry, you're good." She reassured him and I felt ice drop into my stomach. It was such a strange way to comfort someone; it was the way someone would comfort the abused.

Harry took a shuttering breath, "I-I'm good, not my fault, not my fault," he trailed off, whispering this mantra under his breath.

I pulled him to me and kissed his forehead, "Yes Harry, you're good, you're perfect. This was not your fault," I assured, rubbing his arms and he slowly began to relax, letting his ridged muscles slump into my hold.

Alice smiled at me, a sure sign that things would be okay and after a few seconds Harry gave a huge sigh and nodded, "It's okay, I'll be okay. I'm sorry, I just... I couldn't help remembering..." he trailed off again and Hermione nodded again and Ron smiled at him, trying to convey that it was going to be okay.

After a few minutes of silence and just being in each other's presence calmly, Harry said, "Okay, I'm good, do you mind if we go get lunch now?" he asked innocently smiling up at me.

I chuckled as Ron exclaimed his agreement and the two of us got off the stool and I placed an arm around his waist as just a bit of comfort to myself and to him. Ron opened the door to see Draco and Luna hugging, causing the two to jump apart, Luna blushing wildly, tear streaks on her face and Draco looking flustered.

Luna looked suddenly very embarrassed and practically pushed past Draco as she walked quickly down the hall. "Luna," Draco called but then grimaced and sighed.

"Is she okay?" Harry asked looking concerned over the welfare of his friend, "That was rather unlike her."

Draco look as if he were conflicted and sighed again, "No entirely, don't worry about it though Harry, I'll sort of out." Harry looked momentarily discontent with that before Draco shot him a glare clearly telling him to back of the situation. The vampire in me growled at that look, but I knew it was merely meant to ward Harry off of interfering in something Draco clearly wanted to handle on his own, so I let it do.

Harry scowled but nodded in acceptance and allowed me to steer him towards the Cafeteria, a glance at Draco proved that he was gazing down the hall with an expression that clearly said he wished to go after her but knew he shouldn't. In the end he followed us to the cafeteria, his hands shoved in his pockets and looking dejected, but thoughts were swarming in his head like angry bees. Although I couldn't hear what he was thinking, the thoughts were ringing with a loud urgent hum and I resolved upon hearing it that perhaps it might be in everyone's best interest if I got to know Draco Malfoy a little better.

TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL TJL

**(Harry's POV)**

Draco was acting strangely different after the incident in the hall but I was trying very hard not to get involved with it. He clearly didn't want me poking my nose in it, so I resolved to let him deal with it as he saw fit, a new thing for me.

School was finished for the day now and we all stood together outside in the parking lot, feeling ice crawl up our fingers and toes, well at least the fingers and toes of the mortals, and discussing what to do now that school was out. Draco looked exhausted and was opting to go home, to which Luna agreed that she too would like to go home, but the rest of us hadn't seen Forks all too much and admittedly were curious as to what people did around here.

Finally Draco and Luna agreed to apparate home while Alice and Edward would show Ron, Hermione and I around town. It felt sort of just like old times to just be with Ron, Hermione, Edward and Alice, which was strange I realized, because I hardly knew Alice and Edward. Still, it felt as if I had stepped back into my first years at Hogwarts and I let loose. I had never felt the weight lift off my shoulders so abruptly and completely, it made my heart sing.

They showed us the main shops in town; there really wasn't much to see, and the popular places to eat. They promised to show us all around Port Angeles sometime, but for now we stuck to Forks. We headed into a little cafe that Edward said was decently popular but we wouldn't be overrun by people we knew from school and sat around with hot chocolates that only Ron, Hermione and I were drinking. We talked about meaningless things for a while and I found it oddly relaxing to just discuss things which Hermione thought were juvenilely inconsequential and Ron thought were interesting, like how they get chocolate chips into their shape and how much better things smelled after it rained.

Unfortunately it seemed such conversations would come an abrupt end when the cafe door opened again with a small ring from the bell hung by the door. I could feel the blood under my skin ooze away to find some other place to reside as I looked upon the face of Isabella Swan. "Can we go?" I blurted instantly and then practically dove into Edward's side to hide. Some part of me knew I was being ridiculous, but the rest of me couldn't help it. She brought on all the horrible memories of my past, and she brought someone with her this time, someone who instantly brought thoughts of fear into my mind.

I clutched my hot chocolate cup in both my hands and held it near me as the others looked to see who it was. The two vampires scowled as if a foul odour had struck them, but quickly discarded the expressions. "Yes, of course Harry, but you must know you have nothing to fear," Alice reassured as Edward's arm around me tightened comfortably.

"Yeah, we'll hex her arse to pieces if she so much as thinks to do something out of line," Ron promised passionately as Hermione smiled at me kindly before she turned to him and rolled her eyes to show she was not a fan of his current maturity level and yet somewhat agreeing.

We stood from the booth heading towards the door and I hoped that she wouldn't cause a huge confrontation around right here, but sensed it was inevitable. "Well, if it isn't Harry Potter and his little gang of friends," Bella sneered, "Where's your little bodyguard, Draco? Is he upset you dumped him for Edward?" Bella practically spat at me and I resisted the urge to shrink back. The tall Native American boy next to her looked at her with an expression of intense surprise; clearly, he hadn't expected that reaction from her.

Hermione and Ron looked thoroughly pissed by this accusation but let me deal with it. "I assure you, Bella, Draco and I have never had that kind of relationship. We're just really close friend."

Bella snorted her hands on her hips, "Yeah, with benefits, clearly. Why else would he be all over you?" She glanced to the side a bit, clearly Edward wasn't too pleased with her as her face hardened slightly with more anger, "Don't you look at me like that Edward; it's not my fault you can't see that he's clearly cheating on you with that blonde faggot."

"Draco isn't gay, you twat," Ron exploded, causing that already quiet, as most had been clearly eavesdropping on the argument, to get eerily quiet, "And you're a bitch for saying such things about Harry, he's a perfectly good gentleman and you come around here sprouting this garbage that he's- he's what? Doing a bit on the side with Draco? Oh please, now you're just being purposefully daft. It's just plain barmy. It's barking mad, I tell you." I smiled slightly; leave it to Ron to sprout off in English slang when he's all riled up. He got right up in her face until she was leaning back to avoid him. Hermione placed a hand on his back and he settled back down with a clear of his throat, coming to stand next to her, giving me a slight nod as he did.

Bella's face was slightly red from Ron's little rant but she still kept her glare up. I noticed as she did that the boy slightly behind her, the Native, looked extremely awkward in this situation. "Look, Bella," she focused her attention back to me, "I'm sorry if you were hurt by Edward breaking up with you and all that. I went through a bad breakup myself a while back, but you got to just... move on. I'm sorry if you felt like I stole him from you, I promise it wasn't my intention."

She started at me for a second, completely blown away for a moment before she glared more fiercely, "You filthy liar, you won't trick me like you tricked them. You're evil, pure evil," she screeched at me.

I winced but before anything else happened the owner of the cafe came out and glared at us, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhear you all. If you don't mind, I need to ask that you leave on account that you're disturbing the customers." The woman said, she had long frizzy blond hair and stern blue eyes. She reminded me a little of Molly Weasley, and a glance at Ron prove that he thought so too if his heart-stricken expression was anything to go by.

Bella glared at her, but before she could say anything the Native put a hand on her shoulder, "No problem ma'am, we were just leaving," he said looking embarrassed. He then turned Bella like it was nothing and practically frog-marched her out the door.

"Come on guys," Hermione said quietly and we left too.

When we had gotten into the car I frowned, "Who was that guy anyways?"

Alice and Edward both glared at the same time, "Jacob Black," Edward hissed.

"He lives in La Push, the Indian reservation," Alice supplied.

"Oh," I said quietly, "he seems nice," I said trying to be a little optimistic about him.

"Yeah," Edward scoffed, "For a werewolf."


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, sorry for taking so long. I know it's kind of short, I think anyways, but I promise more in the future.**

**Chapter 9**

**(Ron's POV)**

"And what, pray tell, is wrong with that?" Harry suddenly spat and I felt an intense urge to put my face in my hand at the Cullen's obvious fail. Alice and Edward shared a confused glance but didn't reply as Harry continued on. "Do you even know him? He seems like an alright kid, Merlin, that is so- so- so stereotypical and juvenile!"

I cast a helpless glance at Hermione and she looked at a loss for how to defuse the situation. "Harry," Edward started to say, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Alice chose that time to park the car in front our house and Harry practically leapt from the car. He began to stomp towards the steps, obviously fuming as Alice and Edward looked at us in complete befuddlement. He wrenched open the door and slammed it behind him, clearly having a snit. "One of his father's best friends was a werewolf," Hermione explained quickly, "Harry and him were close, and he died during the final battle, leaving his infant son, who is Harry's godson, in the hands of little Teddy's grandmother. I don't think he's particularly over it..." She trailed off as she heard shouting inside.

Edward moved to go find out what was going on but I placed a hand on his arm, "Don't, Harry's just going to get angrier if you go after him. Let him blow off some steam having a shouting match with Draco. That's usually how we let it sort itself out."

Just as I expected there was shouting within our house and the sound of something fragile breaking, but it was Luna's feminine voice that was shouting back at Harry instead of Draco's. She was clearly telling him off for causing Draco some distress when he's so sick. I winced as the sounds got louder.

"Um, I'll go see what's wrong," I called as I ran towards the house, hoping I could somehow diffuse the problem, however unlikely.

As I entered the house Severus was walking up from his lab with a thoroughly pissed off expression, clearly the shouting distracted him and ruined a potion and they were all about to get it big time. "Stop," I suddenly shouted as he moved to go up the stairs.

Severus turned very slowly and levelled me with a glare, "What the bloody hell is going on?" he asked slowly in a deadly calm voice that made me freeze in place while the shouting continued upstairs, I felt like it had gone deadly silent.

I opened my mouth once without any noise escaping before I closed it and tried again. "Everything is alright, just go back to your lab... I will deal with Harry." I said calmly and slowly as if talking to an enraged animal. "I have everything under control." Something broke upstairs that sounded like glass, causing Severus raise an eyebrow at me as if to ask 'really?'

I smiled nervously, at him as I edged past him up the stairs, "Everything is under control," I called as I ran up the stairs. The first thing I noticed was that the hallway was a mess. The whole area looked like Luna and Harry had taken their rooms and strewn them about in the hallway. The next thing was that Harry and Luna were standing in the hallway chucking things at each other and yelling assorted things at each other.

"Hey, hey, hey," I called running between the two of them as Harry pulled back his arm about to throw a pair of scissors at Luna and Luna pulled back her arm holding a ceramic cup. "Everybody, let's just calm down," I whispered as the two glared at each other.

Luna huffed angrily, "Well then you tell him to stop bothering Draco when he's clearly sick and shouting at him like it's his fault his boyfriend hates werewolves."

Harry visibly fumed, "You just don't get it, how can he hate werewolves, I bet he doesn't even know them, the self-righteous git."

I turned to Luna, "Go back to Draco's room and take care of him." She nodded dropping the cup and disappearing into Draco's room. "Alright, look Harry," I started, taking the scissors from him and leading him into his room. It seemed he had calmed down some and was in his sulking stage. We sat down on his bed and Harry sighed as he lay down and looked at the ceiling. "Did it ever occur to you that you don't know these wolves? Maybe they are the bad kind. I know Remus was amazing and you loved him, Hermione and I loved him too, and Teddy is a sweetheart, anyone who sets eyes on him knows that," Harry smiled wistfully here and clearly was remembering that cute little boy. "But maybe, you know, these wolves aren't like that and Edward and Alice know that? I mean maybe they don't right, but you don't know them either. Maybe we can convince them werewolves aren't bad as a whole, bring Teddy over or something for them to see, but I think you both made a vast generalization on the behaviours of a species based on an incomplete survey of experience."

Harry turned to stare at me as if I had just announced the date of the apocalypse. "Where the hell did that come from?" he asked with some shock and horror.

I smirked somewhat smugly, "Well, you know, living with Hermione and Draco... one tends to pick up a few things," I said somewhat haughtily while dusking imaginary dust off me. Harry stared at me for a moment before bursting into uproarious laughter which caused me to snigger before joining him.

**(Luna's POV) (Several hours later)**

I sighed as I finished another chapter of the book I was reading out to Draco. It was his favourite as it was all about knights and dragons and fair maidens and all that. I thought it was sort of cute how he loved that genre.

"L-Luna," Draco suddenly rasped sitting up and coughing harshly, "Can't- breathe," he gasped and started coughing constantly and wheezing.

"Draco," I cried out in shock, sitting up next to him on the bed, "S-Severus," I shouted as I helped Draco out of the bed.

I heard footsteps running and Ron and Harry burst into the room, Hermione not far behind. "What happened?" Harry asked coming over to help support Draco with me.

"Can't-" Draco gasped, still coughing.

"He can't breathe," I answered for him, "Severus!" I screamed as Hermione bolted from the room.

Ron and Harry helped me get Draco into the hallway and we started down the stairs. When we got to the bottom Severus met us up and helped settle Draco onto the floor, "Draco, I need you to remain calm, breath with me," he told him looking into his eyes. As Draco began to try and breathe with Severus, Hermione ran to the phone and dialled for an ambulance by the look of it.

Five minutes later, Severus still was having to coach Draco's breathing with him and the ambulance arrived with Draco, Severus and the rest of them disappearing into it shortly after they realized nothing was wrong with Draco, no choking, etc, but that he just couldn't breathe properly. Once they were gone Harry, Hermione, Ron and I sat on the floor other in silence. Hermione eventually sighed and went to go call a pizza place to deliver. From the looks on the others faces, they didn't need me to predict for them that it was going to be a long night of waiting.

**(Harry's POV)**

The next day we were all rather subdued about Draco. It had been a long night of waiting up restlessly for Severus to come home, which he only did at five am this morning. He wasn't at all surprised that we were up waiting and told us that Draco's condition had worsened, his lungs were starting to fail and they had him on a machine now they helped him breathe. Luna was in tears, which was completely understandable and the rest of us were just depressed. Severus got his things together and asked that we go to school before we went to go see Draco.

I sighed as I walked through the halls alone. I didn't feel like being around other people at all, I just wished that I could go see Draco, maybe read him a story or sing him a lullaby, at least be with him if he was going to be gone soon.

"Harry," a familiar voice called from down the hallway and I turned slowly to look at Edward who was jogging towards me looking apologetic. "Harry, I am so sorry-" he started but I didn't let him finished, I just pulled him into a hug and rested my head on his chest. I started shaking and closed my eyes, willing myself not to start sobbing.

"Edward," I croaked out, "I'm sorry, I was stupid. I don't even care about the werewolf thing anymore. I'm sorry I got mad, it's just... Remus was a werewolf and he was the most gentle, sweetest man I knew and I know I don't know these wolves, but they don't seem so bad and Draco-" I let my voice cut off there. "Draco's in the hospital. His lungs are shutting down," I whispered and Edward hugged me back tightly.

"Oh Harry, I am so sorry about Draco." Edward whispered just holding me. People past us in the hall and I didn't even care that people were staring.

"I don't know how to save him," I whispered finally, "There has to be a way, maybe if he was turned-"

"Harry," Edward's voice sounded pained, "I know this is a difficult thing for you to hear, but if that was something Draco wanted, wouldn't he have suggested it? I know that you are willing to become a vampire, but what if that isn't something Draco wants? Especially if a certain special blond girl isn't one?"

I thought about this, it seemed logical; Draco couldn't live with himself if he had to live without Luna. I sighed in frustration, "I just don't want him to die," I whispered as he rubbed my back.

"None of us do, but while still searching for a way out of this, I think you all need to be prepared to acknowledge that this is a quickly arriving reality," Edward said softly as to not upset me and I sighed, nodding feeling devastated but knew he was right.

He let go of me slowly when he realized I had calmed down some and I looked up at him with a sigh, "So, _do_ you actually know these werewolves or are you just making assumptions?" I finally asked and it was his turn to sigh.

"Well Harry," he said grudgingly, "I suppose that yes, we have made a lot of assumptions regarding them, but you see it's mostly them, they hate us... and I guess hate just breeds more hate." He explained looked at least a little embarrassed and reproachful.

I nodded slowly, "But that doesn't make it justified. You don't know them, they might be like Remus, you both just don't understand each other, yet." I said, pleading for him to understand my side.

Edward sighed, "But Harry, they _smell_," Edward groused teasingly and I slapped him in the arm, causing my hand to hurt a little and him to laugh, "Come on," he said pulling me down the hall.

Later that day Alice called home and told her family that Draco was in the hospital and that we were going to go visit him after school. Rose called her almost right after and told her that she would meet them at the hospital because she wanted to visit him too, apparently this was vastly irregular for Rosalie to care for another being outside her family so Edward and Alice were rather shocked, but I felt it was really nice of her.

Before we left though Severus caught up to us as we were getting into our cars, "Wait," he called, "I just got a call from the hospital," our faces paled somewhat and the Cullens looked worried, "I feel I should warn you all, Draco is taking a new medication, and it will make him incredibly emotional, so be warned." He looked at us seriously at then and I actually had to stifle a groan because Draco was already a Drama Queen when he was sick; he didn't need this too. "As well, I feel I should inform you that as the disease progresses he will become weaker and weaker and there will be more and more pain. As well, near the last stages of the disease his hair will start to fall out and his skin will become dry and crapped and lose colour. I should warn you, these stages have started to become a reality and he is quite distraught. Don't ruin your voice singing to him Harry," Severus said his voice cold and monotonous in effort to not lose control of his emotions except for at the end when he smiled slightly at me.

The Cullens looked at me with some confusion, "Ruin your voice singing?" Edward asked looking confused and Alice suddenly squealed and clapped excitedly, "Oh Harry, you have a beautiful voice!" I blushed and awkwardly got into the car, ignoring their looks and the other's chuckling.

**(Luna's POV)**

I didn't think I could ever be as nervous or as upset as I was now for anything else, it would destroy me to do this again. I was so tightly wound up that I was practically bursting at the seams. I couldn't handle the thought of him dying, I really couldn't.

We had arrived at the hospital moments before and were heading toward his room and I clutched onto Harry's hand in a death grip. I still felt guilty for hurting him in that whole Bella affair, but I swore on my magic that I would pay him back, but right now I needed comfort.

Edward opened the door to Draco's room and we all slowly piled in. "Finally," was the first thing he'd said, I winced at the sight of him. Draco's hair had definitely thinned as well as his skin was drier and lost some colour. He also had small clear tubes going up his nose and down to his lungs to help him breathe. "Do you have any idea how boring it is here, all day, without you guys? The nurses are insufferable!" He cried out in aggravation.

"Sorry Drake, we needed to go to school first, Sev's orders," Harry said shrugging which caused him to cross his arms and pout like a child.

"Well it's not fair," he suddenly shouted. "I am stuck inside this tin can with nothing to do but slowly suffocate and I'm going to freaking die! You should just kill me."

We all looked sort of awkward for a moment; I felt my heart breaking at that cry. "Maybe you could be turned if you want," Ron suggested quietly, glancing at Edward, Alice and Rosalie, who had met us in the waiting room.

Before anyone could answer that Draco was shouting again, "I don't want to be turned! I just want to die, I hate this. It hurts, and my hair is falling out and my skin is all bloody dry and none of this lotion is God damn working!" He screamed at us and if it wasn't so depressing I probably would have laughed. "And I'm so damn pale, I am so dead, this sucks and my hair! My hair," he started sobbing and reached up as a reflex to pull it, something he did to relieve stress and cried out in anguish when his hand came down with a few of the hairs. "See! This is so... so... stupid!" he screamed and started bawling. "I'm- I'm," he seemed to gain some control of himself and I leaned in to hear him as he started whispering 'I'm' over and over again. I was taken aback when he suddenly shouted, "Ugly!" and started wailing and sobbing again.

I glanced at Harry who wasn't looking necessarily shocked but he was surprised, and a little bit amused. I turned back to Draco who was still sobbing as everyone seemed lost for words. I slowly walked around to his bedside and sat down beside him. I gently took his hands that were covering his face and held them in mine on his lap causing him to look over to me. I swallowed and took a deep breath as he stared into my eyes.

"Draco," I whispered but it was heard all around the room, "you're still the most handsome man I've ever known." I said this hoping that he would stop feeling so down on himself.

It didn't have the desired effect because he started wailing again, "No, no, you're lying, you're lying," he sobbed, "Oh Luna, you're so beautiful, so, so beautiful! I shouldn't be allowed to look at you," he cried, pulling one of his hands away and putting it to his face. "So beautiful," he whispered behind his hand.

I felt several visions passed through my eyes in which he or I tell the other that we love each other. I felt like I had suddenly been punched in the stomach. I took a deep intake of breath, _oh my God_, I thought feeling like a fool. These weren't visions of the first time we said it, just times we did. I could have told him any time. It didn't matter when I told him, I could have told him last year. I could tell him today.

I gently pealed his hand away from his face and replaced it with mine, cradling his face. I stared into his silver eyes for a moment, they stared back with a longing and sadness that I could hardly comprehend and I felt the breath leave my lungs at the sight, the sight of Draco Malfoy looking upon me with eyes made of desire. I leaned forward ever so slightly before resolving it with myself and closed the gap, kissing his lips softly.

Dear all the Gods and Merlin in the universe, Draco Malfoy had the softest lips of any man who ever lived or was to. It only lasted a second but it was like the world was held on pause for just a few seconds so that we could both acknowledge that what was happening really was happening. "Draco," I breathed, "I wouldn't care if you were the ugliest person in the world, I would still feel the same about you."

It was deadly silent after that, Draco just stared at me, his face somewhere between shock and joy and he glanced at Harry across the room, his mouth open. Harry merely grinned back at us before touching Edward and motioning with his head that they should leave. I turned back to Draco who was staring at me with an awed expression. I didn't notice the others leave either.


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, sorry that this has taken so long. My life is kind of hectic right now (I know, the excuse everyone uses) but this is going to be good!**

**TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****= change in scene/time**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10 **

**(Harry's POV)**

I sighed as I pulled on my sweater the next morning, I felt so drained after yesterday. We had spent the better part of the evening there with Draco. It was a rather happy evening even though it felt like the time was slowly running out. Even Severus was there in the evening.

**TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL **

**(Flashback)**

We had come back after about a half and hour after leaving Luna and Draco alone to find them sitting together, their hands intertwined in a firm grip. Needless to say we teased them a little bit before just sitting around and talking for several hours.

At five o'clock Severus arrived carrying a large brown bag that smelt delicious. Edward, Alice and Rosalie smiled at him before saying that they would go find Carlisle for a while. I smiled at Edward as he walked out the door in thanks; we really needed a moment to be a family.

Severus cleared his throat as he sat down and started unpacking take out dishes from the bag, "Hello children," he smiled softly, "I thought I'd share a family tradition with you all," he said softly and I remained quiet, knowing interrupting him would make him probably stop talking. "When I was a child and I was very sick, my mother would always buy Indian take-out and we'd share it in my room. In truth this was so that the spices would make my nose run and she was usually exhausted from taking care of me," I smiled at this, because I knew from Madam Pomfrey that Sev was a menace when he's ill, "but I thought that perhaps this one time would be a good occasion to revisit the tradition."

I felt my breath stick in my throat; and I felt my eyes water. He was doing this because he saw this as the end. He wanted us to be together and a family before it was too late. I felt my hands start to shake and I quickly held them together in hopes to make it less obvious. Hermione smiled tearfully, she too obviously saw what he meant behind those words. "Thanks, Sev," she croaked slightly, "It smells wonderful."

He smiled, "Now, you three," he said nodding to Ron, Draco and Luna, "I suppose you've never had this food before, so it'll be an experience. So..." he said and started launching into what each dish was, the three peering at them with avid curiosity.

The rest of our dinner was rather light hearted. Thankfully the elephant in the room remained quiet and unobtrusive in the conversations that night and too soon the sun had set and Severus beckoned us to leave. I remained seated beside Draco with Luna, staring at him, not wanting to leave. "Please Sev," I whispered unable to take my eyes off him, "Let us just stay to sing him to sleep."

Luna brushed a tear from her cheek as Sev stood by the door watching. "Alright," He said softly and left. Luna smiled at me and pulled up her sleeves as Edward, Rose and Alice came back in the room.

"We'll stay with him all night if you like," Alice offered and I smiled at her in thanks.

"That would be appreciated," I answered a slight croak in my voice.

Draco looked over at me with a smile, "Can you sing me the one that first made me sleep?"

I smiled softly, "Alright," and looked over at Luna, "You'll have to make the music," I said sheepishly and she nodded smiling.

It was something Luna had taught to me when she was teaching me guitar; she could manipulate sound with her hands with the help of her magic. It was an easily taught skill surprisingly, all it required was for magic to be channelled through one's hands but instead of into a wand, one just manipulated the air into sound. It didn't work well for complex things like actual words, but otherwise it worked fairly well for the sounds instruments make and some vocalizations. She started it up as I began, her left hand making soft pushing motions like she was kneading something in the air.

_When your tears are spent  
On your last pretense  
And your tired eyes refuse to close  
And sleep in your defense  
When it's in your spine  
Like you've walked for miles  
And the only thing you want is just to be still for a while_

I remembered the day when I first sang this song to Draco. It was after the Slytherins had attacked him and he was given his own room. He hadn't been able to sleep without potions and Madam Pomfrey had to take him off them for his health, so he had spent days awake unable to get any sleep. I had come to his room every night to sing him to sleep, but nothing worked.

Luna flung out her right hand to bring out the background vocals and drums. She had a small smile on her face as she did it; Luna always greatly enjoyed making music her way.

_And if your heart wears thin  
I will hold you up  
And I will hide you  
When it gets too much  
I'll be right beside you  
I'll be right beside you_

_When you're overwhelmed  
And you've lost your breath  
And the space between the things you know  
Is blurring nonetheless  
When you try to speak, but you make no sound  
And the words you want are out of reach  
But they've never been so loud_

Draco originally told me that he was afraid of his nightmares of his father attacking him for choosing the light side and was afraid the Slytherins would attack him in his sleep. I tried to tell him I wouldn't let that happen, but he didn't seem to believe me, and when he did believe me he still seemed too anxious to sleep. After some time I couldn't see what it was that was really bothering him.

_And if your heart wears thin  
I will hold you up  
And I will hide you  
When it gets too much  
I'll be right beside you  
I'll be right beside you_

_I will stay  
Nobody will break you, yeah,  
Trust in me, trust in me, don't pull away  
Just trust in me, trust me_

_Cause I'm just trying to keep it together  
Cause I could do worse and you could do better  
_

It had actually been Hermione who had figured out what would put him to sleep. She reasoned that he wasn't afraid of his nightmares or that they'd attack him in his sleep, but that now he'd be alone, that everyone would abandon him. So then I realized what I had to do was make him realize I wasn't going to abandon him like his other friends had.

_When your tears are spent  
On your last pretense  
And your tired eyes refuse to close  
And sleep in your defense  
_

_And if your heart wears thin  
I will hold you up  
And I will hide you  
When it gets too much  
I'll be right beside you  
Nobody will break you_

I looked at Draco now, taking his hand in mine and squeezing his hand tightly. I really meant it then and now, I wouldn't let anyone hurt him then and I wasn't going to let this hurt him now. I was going to make sure his last days were amazing, even if it was hard. I couldn't lose my brother, but losing him by letting him go voluntarily now would hurt more later and would hurt him.

_And if your heart wears thin  
I will hold you up  
And I will hide you  
When it gets too much  
I'll be right beside you  
Nobody will break you_

I let go of his hand slowly, seeing that he was asleep and brushed away a tear. "Come on," I whispered to Luna, taking her hand and getting up.

The two of us left the room and she hugged me tightly. She took a shuddering breath against my shoulder before slowly pulling away. She looked up at me, pain in her eyes. "I should go," she whispered and turned away, leaving me in the hall feeling confused. She didn't have to go so abruptly, I would rather she had stayed here and we comforted each other.

"I didn't know you could sing like that," Edward's voice whispered in my ear, his arms coming around me from behind and just simply held me there.

I leaned back on him, sighing. I chose not to answer, just merely rested against him. I stared down the hall into the bright light beyond it. The hallway just went on and on, seeming to never end, with bright lights all around and doorways leading to rooms full of patients slowly dying. I wondered if they had anyone to sit beside their beds at night to comfort them. I wondered if they felt like anyone was trying to help them. Finally after a moment of us simply staring down the hall into nothing, I turned around in his arms. I kissed his cheek softly before whispering, "I should go," and he let me.

**TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****(End of Flashback)**

I tried to convince myself that Draco would be okay today as I walked to school. I pushed my hands into my pockets to rid myself of the cold air around me. I assumed that they in fact had actually stayed last night rather than run off to wherever they go, and I assumed that I had some time, a little bit of time at the least, before the end.

Dear God and Merlin and all the rest, I hope we have time.

I arrived at about the same time as Luna, Ron and Hermione. It didn't seem odd to me, as I had walked and they had drove and I had left earlier than them, but all the same I felt an off sense of foreboding, like something terrible was about to happen. I glanced around subtly for the Cullens; I noticed them on the opposite side of the parking lot among the rest of the students milling about. I frowned, nearly all of Forks High School as standing around in the parking lot heading inside, so why did I feel this feeling? Maybe it was the look on Luna's face, the one distinctly telling me something was wrong, but even she didn't know what.

I was about five feet from my siblings when she seemed to come out of nowhere, screaming her head off. "You took him from me!" She shrieked, pushing me, causing me to stumble backwards slightly. Heads swung to our direction and then flew to Edward's for a moment. That was all we really needed, documentation from nearly all of the students in their minds that Edward was way over there when we were fighting. Alice and Edward started moving towards us as Luna when stiff as a board and Ron was being restrained by Hermione. I was thankful for that. This was between Bella and I, I didn't need him to get in trouble as well for this.

"You took him and Jacob from me!" she screeched looking mad, her hair was flying everywhere and her hands were balled into fists. "You turned them against me! I don't know how, but you did! And you'll pay for it!" she screamed reaching into her coat and pulling out something metal and L shaped.

I didn't have time to think about it. In that split second I could see Edward and Alice running at human speed towards us, Luna unfroze, and Hermione's eyes went wide as she let go of Ron in surprise. In the next I was being pushed to the ground and Luna stood in my place as there was a loud bang that went off.

Luna crumpled to the ground beside me as Ron tackled Bella to the ground. Two more shots went off before Edward and Alice arrived. There was screaming everywhere, a loud shrill ringing in my ear. I saw one of Ron's pale arms shoot out, holding the gun and chucked it as far away from Bella as he could before rolling off her, exposing two dark red spots on his chest. Hermione was by his side, screaming his name and putting pressure on his chest wounds the next second as Edward and Alice arrived grabbing Bella's writhing arms and hoisting her to her feet and holding in their stone arms.

I scrambled over to Luna and looked down at her, she was breathing raggedly, and I pressed down on the dark red spot on her chest like Hermione was doing to Ron. "Luna?" I asked worriedly, tears were building in my eyes. Not again, I won't lose more people. She was getting paler by the second and she grasped any part that she could reach and I let her, taking comfort in the bruising hold she had on my arms.

She took a shuddering breath, and smiled at me, "Don't worry Harry, everything will be fine," she whispered, pain in her eyes as she made a choking noise. I stared into her eyes, trying to see if she was just trying to console me or if she meant it, but all I could see was agony. "I can see it now," she whispered gazing off past me to somewhere I couldn't see, "We're going to be happy."

_Happy where?_ I couldn't help but think. Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered that Bella was screaming that Edward and Alice were vampires and that was why they were pale and she couldn't get away. However, given the circumstances I didn't think anyone believed her, that and Alice and Edward pretended, when Bella gave one particularly violent tug, that she almost got free of them.

An ambulance arrived and an EMT guy came over to me and knelt down beside me, "Okay, son, you can let her go now. We are going to take good care of her." I backed away from her slightly so that they could get in there to help her and I looked down at my blood soaked hands.

That was Luna's blood on my hands, for real this time. She was hurt because of me, could die because of me. Another EMT guy was already wheeling Ron into an ambulance, a sobbing Hermione behind them.

The crimson liquid was dripping from my hands. I felt violently sick right then, but I managed to keep it down. I began to shake and wondered if I was in shock. I couldn't look away from it; it just kept screaming at me that this was my fault. Luna was suffering because of my actions. I was a selfish and cruel person. I felt tears well in my eyes, my stomach rebelling and I noticed Edward and Alice keeping their distance with Bella. Some part of my mind registered that they were because the blood could send them into a bit of frenzy but the other part told me they were disgusted by me. I should have taken that bullet.

Mr. Swan was gazing at his daughter sadly as he put her in handcuffs. He led her over to the cop care and gently as he could put her in the back seat. It was not an easy feat, considering the amount of screaming and thrashing she was doing.

I just sat there, with my blood soaked hands.

**TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL ****TJL **

Eventually another EMT guy came over to me and began wiping my hands and asking me questions. I guess he was seeing if I was in shock at all, but I wasn't really paying attention. Severus arrived and sat down beside me, putting an arm around me but not saying a word. I was sort of glad he didn't. I looked down at my hands, I could still see a bit of the blood on them, under my fingernails.

"This isn't your fault," Severus finally said.

I looked up at Edward and Alice who were a ways away talking to the police. School had been cancelled but there were still staff, students and even parents milling about among the cops and medical personnel talking to people about what happened. I even saw a few reporters with their camera men walking around.

I sighed, "I don't know about that. She was trying to kill me, not Luna, not Ron."

Severus nodding slowly, "Yes, it's true. However, it was Luna's choice to push you out of the way, was it not? And Ron, was it not his choice to tackle Bella? Did you ask them to do it?" He looked down at me knowingly. "We need to go to the hospital, but I need you to be first aware that none of this is your fault, because I won't have you there, being upset and upsetting them over whose fault it is. It's Bella Swan's fault."

I bit my lip and looked up at him. I guess I saw his side, if only a little bit. I nodded, "Alright," I whispered.

"Good," he said helping me stand and leading me over to the car. The EMT guys were done with me anyways, so they wouldn't miss us.

Halfway to the car Edward and Alice headed us off. Edward pulled me into a tight hug and kissed the breath out of me. "Oh God, Harry, oh God, I have never been so terrified in my life," he whispered kissing me everywhere. Guilt bubbled in my chest and I felt nauseous again, but I simply buried my face in his chest, shaking and hoping he wouldn't leave me.

"Come on, Edward," Alice growled getting into the passenger seat of Severus' car, although she didn't ask I suppose she foresaw it would be alright.

Edward had his arm around me the whole car ride as if he had to be sure I was really there in order to be sure I was still alive. I rested my head on his shoulder; there was still a residue of old shock and panic. I clung to a bit of Edward's shirt over his stomach and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to just calm down a bit. Edward rubbed my shoulder and pulled me closer to him, "You're okay," he whispered kissing my hair, "you're fine."

I took in a shaky breath, nodding as Severus pulled into the hospital parking lot. Alice looked up sharply, "Severus, you and I will need to go see Carlisle right away," she predicted and Severus nodded as he pulled into a spot.

"Alright, Harry and Edward, would you please inform Draco about what has happened?" Severus said sternly, "You may want to let Edward do the talking," he added as an afterthought as he looked down at me.

Edward and I stumbled through the hospital, I looked at the doors, wondering behind which ones my friends were lying, possibly dying, because of me. I didn't even realized that Edward was supporting most of my weight as we walked, I started shaking again and I let out a sob and would have slid to the floor if Edward hadn't been holding me up. He suddenly pulled me up to his chest so he was carrying me and he continued towards Draco's room, holding me as if I was a small child as I sobbed into his shoulder.


	12. Chapter 11

**This chapter is pitifully short, I apologize, but I promise it will be longer and better soon.**

**I forgot to mention that the song Harry sang in the last time was **_**"Beside You" by Marianas Trench**_**. –I didn't write it or am in any way connected to Marianas Trench or this song and made no money by inserting it in this fic.**

**This chapter is kind of sad, and I'm sorry to anyone who becomes sad reading it... but it was kind of the point of this chapter. If you haven't noticed yet, I love to tear characters down, but they will be built back up, have no fears, my dear readers!**

**Also I would like to add, I am Canadian, if the spelling looks slightly funny, that might be because I'm writing in Canadian English... or I just misspelled it...  
**

**Enjoy! And review?**

**Chapter 11**

**(Edward's POV)**

I carried Harry into Draco's room and he looked up, worry in his silver eyes. He looked like he was going to say something but I shook my head slightly to ask him to remain quiet for now. Harry was going to pieces and I felt like my heart was breaking hearing his sobs. They came from deep within his chest, causing his whole body to shake and convulse. I sat him in a chair and knelt down so we were at eye level, I placed my hands on his shoulders and he looked up at me with a tear streaked face and guilty eyes.

"Harry, please, calm down. Everything will be alright, I promise. Please, just close your eyes and sleep a little," I pleaded with him, he just shook his head sharply back and forth.

"I g-got to t-tell Dr-Draco," he stuttered out, still shaking as he hiccupped and sniffled.

I ran a hand through his hair in what I hoped was a soothing way. "Its okay, Harry, I'll tell him. Just calm down and go to sleep," I told him and he looked sceptical but finally nodded and curled up in the chair and I ran a hand through his hair until I was fairly certain he was asleep.

I looked over to Draco for confirmation where he was sitting up in his bed. He nodded to me and I moved away from Harry, letting him sleep. I sat down in another chair beside Draco. "What the bloody hell is going on? You two are here far too early," Draco hissed as to not wake up Harry.

I sighed and ran a hand over my face as I began to gather myself together to tell him the story. I quickly gathered information on Ron and Luna from Carlisle as I was doing it. I looked over at Draco's face and couldn't help but see the stark difference from his face from when he first arrived and now. It was marred with lines too aged for his seventeen-year-old face. He was thinner, perhaps even thinner than when I'd seen him yesterday, and as white as a white feather of a dove and looked just as fragile in his large white hospital bed, the kind they gave to patients with limited hope of survival. He took in a ragged breath, his lungs struggling for breath.

A part of me wished to just not tell him but I knew that wouldn't do. I took a deep breath and forced myself to tell him what happened earlier, and he was surprisingly quiet while I told him, never interrupting and just taking it in. His face remained as still as a piece of glass and showing nothing of his emotions and it shook me a little. He had just heard the love of his life had been shot and he didn't give as much as a flicker of emotion.

He took in a deep breath that sounded wheezy in my ears and I swallowed, waiting for his response. "Harry will blame himself," Draco told me softly, staring straight ahead, "He'll self-destruct unless everyone is okay. He does not care about any costs to his health," he looked over at me, "You will not let this happen. I am stuck in this God-damn bed, I can't even breathe, I can't comfort the girl I love, I can't do a damn thing." The harsh bitterness in his voice almost surprised me. He looked ready to kill if he had the means to do it and I would have put my money on it that her name would have been Isabella Swan. "I am helpless, weak, and let my pathetic father put me here. You will not let him see any of his as his fault, do you understand me?" He said all of this with surprising power for someone so sick and his eyes pierced right into me like silver daggers.

"I understand," I said nodding, more than willing to do this for him.

Draco nodded slowly, "How are they?" he whispered, for the first time his eyes filling with tears.

"Luna's going to be fine," I said gazing at the wall without seeing it. I was listening to my father's rapid thoughts about their conditions. "From what I gather from Carlisle they did an operation to retrieve the bullet and it punctured her lung but it looked like it will heal nicely and Severus mentioned a potion that would help the process."

Draco's shoulders relaxed some, "And Ron?" He asked swallowing and glancing at Harry.

I cringed and cursed under my breath, "Not that well," I whispered hearing Carlisle's thoughts increase in panicked speed, "He's reacting negatively to medication. Carlisle thinks he might be allergic to something in them, Severus is trying to help as well, but nothing is working," I was lost hearing Carlisle's thoughts and my mouth just kept moving, "He doesn't have enough training to heal him and Carlisle is at a loss..."

A loud bang startled me from reading Carlisle's thoughts and Hermione stood in the doorway, her eyes red and puffy, Harry was staring at me with a pained expression, and it occurred me to then that he must have woken and heard me talking about Ron. Draco was looking between us all with a frustrated, helpless look and Hermione staggered forward, gripping onto Harry's sleeve suddenly, and falling to her knees by his side. "Harry, please, please Harry, you got to do something," she sobbed onto his knee, still gripping onto him and giving out loud wails, "Please Harry, you've got to save him, do anything. Anything, please, God Harry, please." She went to pieces there, crumpling to the floor in a display I had never seen and it appeared neither had Draco or Harry by their stricken and shocked expressions.

"Comfort her," Harry said rising from his seat, his eyes almost taking on a glazed over look. "I'll be back," he said before bolting from the room.

I circled around Draco's bed and pulled her up onto it and settled her into Draco's arms and he just held her as she wracked with sobs. Draco gave me a look that said exactly what I was thinking, which was that, so far, I wasn't doing a good job on keeping Harry from feeling like this wasn't his fault.

**(Harry's POV)**

I wandered quickly through the halls, calling out to Severus' mind as I did, asking where he was. He responded back the room number in a hurry and I made a bee-line for it. I made it there without getting stopped by any nurses and knocked hurriedly on the door. Severus opened it, looking conflicted and frustrated, motioning me in.

I entered to see that we were standing before a wall of glass that separated the rooms into the operation room and the place we could observe. I figured this was for people who wished to watch the surgery of their loved ones or learn from them. I quickly noted the five doctors working on Ron, the sight sickened me slightly so I focused on one of the five, Carlisle. He glanced up at me and I looked over at Severus, "Can he heard us?" I asked but it was unnecessary for him to answer because Carlisle nodded minutely. Severus remained silent and I pursed my lips. "Carlisle, please," I started turning back at him. "Please, do _whatever_ it takes to heal Ron. _Please_, we can't lose another..." I said softly, but I let all my emotions pour into that statement. Ron was my best friend, my first friend. I couldn't lose him, not like this. "Please, Carlisle, I can't lose him like this," I whispered, hastily brushing a tear away. "This is all my fault. His family, Ginny, this; I can't lose him to this." I refused to meet either of their eyes. I pulled myself together enough to look up at Carlisle, who was just standing still in an almost inhuman way.

One of the other doctors turned to Carlisle and called something to him. I blinked away tears as I watched these men and women try so hard to keep Ron alive. Carlisle moved into action, I had a feeling he was doing simple things at lightning speed that went unnoticed by the others. I watched him empty a syringe of something into Ron and I took a deep breath watching as his erratic heartbeat slowed. The doctors looked at each other and gave a joint sigh of relief and began to stitch him up fully and dress his wound.

I swallowed, feeling like I'd betrayed Ron in saving him. Severus looked over at me, I could tell he was going to want to talk to me about what I had just said and done but I just shook my head and walked out of the room, seeking out Luna Lovegood.


	13. Chapter 12

Okay, sorry for the lack of update, working on that. Sorry for the mistakes. Not going to lie, this is somewhat of a filler chapter; however, some important stuff emotionally goes down... and plot-wise towards the end.

Sorry for the shortness.

Enjoy,

**Chapter 12**

**(Harry's POV)**

I walked through the halls, my Occlumency shields in my mind falling and I called out to Luna, hoping she would hear me. I felt a tug and turned towards that direction and slowly made my way towards her signal.

Eventually I reached a door and leaned against it. I closed my eyes, trying to stop my impending tears and wishing the guilt would dissipate as I gently knocked on her door. I didn't wait long before opening the door and walking in.

They first thing I noticed was that she was smiling as she lay in the hospital bed, her white blonde hair splayed out around her head like a halo, "Hey," she rasped out happily as I approached her. She seemed to have quite a bit of life in her, so I reasoned that Severus had been to see her with some potions. She reached out a hand towards me and I took it gently in mine, holding it tight. "See," she whispered, her silvery grey eyes shining, "I told you everything would be alright."

I shook my head, "Ron-"

"Will be fine," She interrupted, "I can't even say that he'll be mad when he wakes." She smiled softly at me, "And don't feel guilty about me, okay? I'll be fine, and Ron will be fine." She looked choked for a minute but continued on, "and everything is going to be okay. We could have done nothing, but we didn't. We did what we did for you, and you know what, I'll feel insulted if you blame yourself."

"It's not fair to use your visions like that to know how I feel," I murmured, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't need a vision to know how my best friend is feeling," Luna answered back almost sharply, her eyes piercing into me. We stayed silent for a moment before Luna sighed, "I want to be transferred to Draco's room," she said finally and I nodded in acceptance. Not only was it a reasonable request but it was one I'd gladly fight to see done. They would both need each other in her recovery and his last stretch before the end, "and Edward is waiting outside my door for you. He would really like to talk to you," at my slight scowl, I really didn't want to talk about everything that just happened, she rolled her eyes, "and it's not about Ron or me or Draco so go out and talk to him."

I sighed and glared at her halfheartedly as I got up and headed to the door. I opened it and closed it before looking up at Edward. Even then, when I saw his amber eyes full of some untold emotion, I fidgeted. "You wanted to talk to me?" I asked him softly, glancing around rapidly.

Edward smiled tensely and I swallowed, feeling like this was it, the end. "Harry," he started, "Look, I just wanted to talk to you and tell that I really care about you, maybe even love you even, and I can't stand the thought of you dying." He was silent here and I felt my breath freeze in my throat. This really was it; he couldn't change me, as then he'd be killing me, and I couldn't live without my magic, as being without it forever alone would kill me, which left me feeling a sense of impending dread. What was I going to do now? "So," he continued but I almost wasn't listening, "I just wanted to tell you that I want to be with you forever," his eyes shone down at me I was suddenly struck with the sense that the look in his eyes was love. "Harry James Potter, I would be honoured if you spent forever with me, and if that requires you to be turned into a vampire then so be it," he said quietly enough that only I could possibly be able to hear him. "I've never lost anyone that I can remember in great detail. I mean, when my parents died, I was turned so I can't remember them that well, and anyone else I know now is a vampire and we don't exactly die easily. With the exception of what minimal amount of despair I felt when I broke up Bella, I've never lost anyone." He paused here for a second, "But I've seen what it's done to Draco, and what the thought of losing Ron did to Hermione and most of all how I've seen it affect you and I don't want that. I don't want it for me and I don't want them to go through it either. I want to be with you forever and keep you safe, and never let you feel like this again."

I was silent for a good twenty seconds before I could formulate a sentence, but Edward patient with me. I felt tears at the edges of my eyes as I launched myself into his arms and held on for dear life. "Merlin, Edward, I love you," I finally whispered, clutching to him. I had never had anyone tell me something so heartfelt and beautiful before, although it was sad and I could still feel the weight of loss upon my shoulders, Edward made me feel like everything really was going to be okay.

"I-I love you too Harry," He murmured in my ear and I smiled, through all the darkness around us, I smiled. It was enough to send me into peals of hysterical, joyous laughter.

- T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L -

I lay my head upon Edward's chest as I looked out on the rain. Edward and I were in his room, lying on his couch, just watching the rain through the window. After Severus had found us, he recommended that we go out and get some fresh air away from everything. I had protested, but Severus assured me that Hermione was sitting with Ron now, who was doing fine according to Carlisle on the whole unconscious-turning they had worked out, and Luna was going to moved into the room with Draco, who Severus had just been to see and who was acting like a brat because he wanted to see her, and they'd want alone time to talk and so there was no reason for me to be here other than to worry, which was what Severus was going to do.

I sighed, wondering if Edward had somehow managed to call his family and ask they vacate their home or if they were really out shopping. Some part of me really didn't even care, it was nice to just lie down and relax and not worry about anything.

"Are you scared?" Edward's voice rang out softly in the quiet room, just loud enough to be heard over the rain.

I lay still for a moment, "Of what specifically?" I asked finally.

"Of the turning," he supplied almost instantly.

I was silent again for about a minute, "Yes," I felt Edward shift so I continued before he could interrupt, "But I'm glad Voldemort's going to be gone for good," I said softly, "I've been fighting for this for so long. I just want him to go away. I just want to be with you and my friends and not worry about this raving lunatic anymore." I felt Edward nod under me and his arms tightened slightly around me. "I'm also scared for the others too though, I know Ron will be okay, and Luna eventually, but Draco..." I trailed off as something got stuck in my throat.

Edward rubbed my arm slowly; we both didn't say anything for a while. I don't think either of us knew what to say. He surprised my with his next question though, "So, I've been meaning to ask you, why have you become more comfortable talking?" At my silence he continued, "If you don't want to talk about it that's okay. I just wanted to know if there was something I could do that would make it easier."

I smiled slightly, admiring the rain, "When I was captured for those three weeks," I began softly, "Voldemort told me all the ways I was weak, how I would amount to nothing, how when I died the Wizarding World would hate me and if I did kill him, no matter how unlikely, that the Wizarding World would turn on me. How we were so alike, except that I was weak and he was strong. He said I could do nothing right and didn't have the courage to kill him even if I had the chance." Edward's arms tightened around me and I held onto him back. "I began to believe him; I began to crack, thinking I was weak, but I had to be strong. On the battlefield I failed to kill him." I paused against, staring out at the rain, "And he laughed at me, and I knew what he was thinking, that we were the same, but I was weak and how everyone would hate me now." I paused again, clearing my throat, "I stopped talking because I could hear his voice in mine. Every time I tried to talk I heard his voice and I couldn't do it. I felt like I was him, but I was just weak." I paused and glanced at Edward; he was looking down at me and was waiting patiently for me to go on. "When I came here, Severus told me that it was okay to be weak. I didn't have to be strong anymore, and when Draco was upset that time because of Blaise I felt like I wanted to help him, even though I felt so weak and tired. I realized that I was nothing like Voldemort, because he would never try to comfort a friend in need; he doesn't even have friends to do that to. I didn't have to live up to the standards others set for me; by not talking I was proving Voldemort right, I was making myself even more weak. So I spoke for myself, I spoke for Draco, not to prove anything to Voldemort, because it's okay if he thinks I'm weak. He's not even important anymore. It's okay if you all think I'm strong, because I don't have to be that person anymore. I'm not Voldemort; I'm not even the The-Boy-Who-Lived anymore. I'm just Harry James Potter-Snape. I can be whoever the hell I want to be," I smiled up at him, "And I want to be your talkative boyfriend."

Edward smiled down at me and pulled me up to him so he could kiss me softly, "I love you Harry James Potter-Snape, my talkative boyfriend."

- T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L –

I gave an exasperated sigh as I pulled my sweater over my head. I was almost certain that neither Severus nor Hermione came home last night. They could have at least called. It was a Saturday though, which was probably why neither of them did, and I had spent the majority of last night at Edward's house before he drove me home. Still, it would have been nice seeing as now I had no ride to the hospital.

Edward had told me last night that his family as planning on going out on a 'camping' trip to catch some bigger animals so they could be sustained for a little while longer. I didn't ask but I supposed this was so that they could be here when Draco eventually passed and they would be fully recharged when Ron awoke.

I sighed, thinking about Draco as the chilly morning air hit my face, blowing my hair about. It was hard to believe that out of all the Blacks I knew none of them were a match, or at least ones that were living. I shook my head, Severus had checked them all, he told me so, and he even checked the deceased ones; although, I'm not sure why, maybe just to check if there had been someone. I swallowed at the memory of Sirius; he had been a match, as well as Bellatrix of all people.

I sighed, shaking my head as if to get the thoughts out of my head. I stopped when I came to a light and waited for it to turn, standing casually with my hands in my pockets. I glanced around this dreary town and noticed that the diner where I had that interaction with Bella was just across the street.

I didn't think anything of it until I glanced over at one of the cars waiting at the light. The driver had dark skin and long black hair and was chatting with a girl who had a similar tone of skin and hair colour. I felt something in me freeze like I was supposed to be remembering something, but for the life of me I couldn't remember. I looked back at the diner, squinting at it, remembering the tall boy who had stood behind Bella awkwardly in there. The Native boy, the werewolf... what was his name?

**(Flashback)**

_Alice and Edward both glared at the same time, "Jacob Black," Edward hissed._

"_He lives in La Push, the Indian reservation," Alice supplied._

**(End of Flashback)**

_Oh, my God_, I thought frozen in that spot despite the light turning, the car with the unknown Native couple drove away and I stood finding it hard to breathe. _Black._

_**A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, it was just convenient. Review?**  
_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**(Harry's POV)**

I took off at a run across the street, running into the diner before slowing into a stop. I approached the counter with the woman who reminded me of Molly Weasley behind it and smiled shyly. "Hi, sorry to bother you, Miss, but do you happen to have a phone book for residents in this area and La Push?" I asked politely.

The woman looked up as she brushed the apron she was wearing down. Her blue eyes watched me for a moment like they were calculating. "Yes, dear, of course, I have one in the back. I'll just be a second."

I nodded my thanks and she disappeared into the back. She returned again with a thick white and yellow paged book and set it on the counter. "Just leave it here when you're done with it. There's a pay phone by the door if you need it," she added smiling kindly as she went back to her customers.

It took me a few minutes to flip through to find 'Black' in the book. I took a shuttering breath and licked my lips as I skimmed my finger down the side looking for 'Jacob.' That was until I realized that it wouldn't be under Jacob, but under his father's name. I ground my teeth together in frustration. There were 19 Blacks living in La Push and I didn't really have the time to go through all their numbers. I sighed, skimming down the names on the side. I was grasping at straws; hoping one of the names would give me a clue as to who Jacob's father would be.

I skimmed down the list, reading idly before I stopped. I pulled the book closer to me and leaned down close to the page. _Black, Sirius O. _I felt my heart race and my stomach drop. _No, it couldn't be_, I thought shaking my head. I looked over for a number but there was none, just an address. I blinked, staring at the page, this couldn't be. I shook my head, it wasn't, but all the same, who names their kid Sirius? And the middle name letter was the same… but why wouldn't he come back?

There were so many unanswered questions. I just shook my head, staring at the page before I looked up at the woman, she seemed distracted enough. I ripped out the page before anyone could stop me, flipped the book closed and exited quickly. I stared down at the sheet as I walked outside. _Alright, let's do this,_ I told myself, _you have no car, and you have pretty much no idea where you're going, but we're going to find this Sirius O. Black._ After quietly reminding myself that talking to one's self was a sign of insanity I took off in the direction of La Push, as directed by a sign on the road.

I had been running maybe ten minutes when a shiny, yellow, fancy looking car pulled up beside me. I faltered a bit as I ran and looked over at Alice as she rolled down her window, "I hope you know what you're doing, Harry, get in," she called, motioning with her head for me to get in her car.

I climbed in and she sped off down the road towards La Push. "What are you doing here, Alice? I thought you all had left," I asked her frowning.

Alice shook her head, "Carlisle didn't think it would be wise if we all left, considering Ron's position right now and I have to agree with him," she said over the purr of her engine, "Especially when you're out pulling foolish stunts. I can't see what's in La Push that you need so badly, but Luna just texted me that I shouldn't stop you. I suppose I'm inclined to believe her."

"I'm thankful, but why can't you see?" I asked confused.

She grimaced, "When the wolves are involved, I can't see anything in the future. It's like your life just goes blank."

I swallowed and nodded, a part of my mind recognized just how hard this was for Alice. The pinched look on her face said it all. She really didn't like this and wished I wasn't doing this, but I suppose she knew good advice when she heard it and so against her better judgement, and against the high probably that Edward was going to rip us both limb from limb for this, she was letting me go.

Alice suddenly pulled onto the side of the highway and stopped. She smiled grimly at me, "Well, I'm sorry, Harry, this is as far as I can go. We have a treaty with the wolves that says we're not allowed go to past this point." She looked out down the road, clearly anxious, "Good luck."

I smiled and nodded, "Will you wait here?" I asked as I climbed out, feeling nervous now.

Alice nodded, "Yes, I will, if only so I can be sure when you're back on safe ground."

I nodded and started jogging along the road, feeling apprehensive, and not only because I was running through the woods inhabited by werewolves, but because I was and I was completely defenceless and no one would see me if there were any problems. I took a deep breath as I ran and just kept running, not looking once to see that Alice was sitting still as a stone watching me disappear down the road, until I vanished from sight.

- T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L –

It took me well over a half an hour before I even saw the first of sparsely placed houses. As I ran I tried not to think about anything but just getting to that house. I couldn't think about Sirius, or the thought of going through all this to find it's the wrong person. I just ran, pumped my legs back and forth, brushed sweat from the forehead and eyes and focused on my breathing. I couldn't even think about how this was Draco's last hope, because God, if this didn't work….

I had just reached a stop light at an intersection and was trying to figure out how to find this place when I heard my name called from behind me. I spun around quickly only to see the tall gangly Native, Jacob Black, lopping towards me with an apologetic expression. "Hey, uh, hi Harry, I'm Jacob Black. You might remember me from that diner in Forks with Bella," he seemed to choke over her name and I nodded somewhat impatiently. "Well," he said scratching the back of his neck, "I just wanted to say that I'm really, really sorry about everything that happened to you and your friends-"

"Jacob," I said interrupting him, "it's okay, none of this is your fault so don't apologize. I don't hold any hard feelings toward you or anything so don't even worry about it. However, I was wondering if you could help me find where this address is?" I asked him but he interrupted me.

"Also, I know you're dating Edward Cullen, and look I just wanted to warn you because I saw what being with him did to Bella, and-" Jacob started looking nervous.

I cut him off, hopefully for the last time, "Look Jacob, if you're about to lecture me on the finer points of their vegetarian diet, you can save your breath." I lowered my voice so no one but the two of us had a chance in hell of hearing us. "I knew what they were the second I saw them, and I assure you, I am in no danger of them, just as you are no danger to me, and I am no danger to either of you." I acknowledged to myself that that last bit was currently a lie but in normal circumstances I was right, while vampires and werewolves were dangerous, they weren't really a match to a fully trained wizard, even if I wasn't the type to go around hurting them. "So," I said somewhat awkwardly as Jacob kept looking at me strangely like he was trying to decode what I had just said, "would you please direct me to even the general direction of this address?" I asked him pointing out the correct one on the sheet.

Jacob frowned and looked the paper from me, "Sirius Black? Yeah, I can show you were he lives. I have no idea how you know him." He shot me a suspicious look, "but he showed up in the forest a few years back. We thought he was a complete druggie but he was clean and the tribe has been trying to get his life back in order."

My heartbeat accelerated and I swallowed, fighting to remain calm. "Jacob, please, I need to speak with him."

My desperation must have been clear to him because he nodded seriously and started down the street, "This way," he called and I practically had to jog to keep up with his long legs.

"So," I said, licking my lips to wet them, "When this Sirius Black showed up in the woods… what was he like? Did he say anything specifically?"

Jacob glanced at me suspiciously, "Yeah, actually, he was just lying here muttering about how he couldn't go back, and how it gone."

I clenched my fists in attempt to keep myself calm, reminding myself that I could still be disappointed, "Really? That's odd," I answered conversationally.

"Yeah," Jacob murmured, like he was thinking about something else, "To this day we still don't really have any idea what he was talking about. He won't tell a soul, he just gets depressed and talks about how it's all gone and he can never go back to them."

We were silent after that, but not before long Jacob pointed towards a house on the outskirts of town, "That's where he lives, he picked that house out. He said something about being alone for so long and needed to ease back into the whole thing." Jacob shrugged then; clearly he didn't get the full meaning behind those words, but hoped I had.

We travelled towards the house slowly, but it soon became too much for me. I was nauseous with anxiety and shaking with anticipation. I couldn't stand the thought of it being him and he was only a few metres from me. I bolted towards the house. I ran up the front porch steps and wrenched open the screen door to pound on the hardwood. I felt Jacob's presence behind me but I ignored it, peering through the different windows in hope to see him.

"I'm coming," a voice shouted from inside and I froze and stopped my insistent knocking. I bit my lip as I balled my fists and shifted weight on my feet as the door was being unlocked.

The door swung open slowly, revealing a clean, tall, lean, but healthy man with dark black hair, grey eyes and pale skin. My breath froze, "Sirius," I finally breathed out with relief and joy and launched myself at him. He caught me and pulled me tightly to his chest.

"Harry," He whispered and pulled away to take my face in his hands. "Oh Harry," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again," he murmured running a hand through my hair and over my face. He suddenly looked horrified, "Oh no, you didn't… you didn't go through-"

"No," I said shaking my head, "Sirius, we've been alive his whole time…." I said gripping onto his arms. "Why didn't you ever try to come back?"

Sirius shook his head looking aghast. "Oh Merlin, I need to sit down," he said turning towards his house and I nodded, helping him in. I glanced back at Jacob and shrugged, not sure what he should do.

"I'll just wait out here," Jacob said nodding, and I nodded in thanks.

I went into a sitting room with Sirius and let him sit down. "When I went through the veil it said that it wasn't my time. It said that I was going to be put in a place where I could live and be of use and that I'd find happiness eventually there. It said that if I left the area it would bring eventual suffering and there would be nothing for me to find." Sirius shook his head, "It gave me the impression that you all wouldn't be there, gone and the thought…" Sirius shook his head again, "Call me a coward but the thought of going back to there and finding you all gone was too much. Not after James and Lily. I suppose here I could hold onto some sort of ignorance is bliss, you know? I could imagine you all living over there happily." He seemed to choke slightly, and I reached over and took his hand to comfort him, "So I tried to live here and find happiness… but it's been hard. I've missed you all so much." He looked up at me teary eyed, "I'm so sorry that I never went to find you. I'm so sorry."

I reached across and took his hand, "It's okay, Sirius, I think I know why," I told him and began to tell him the shortened version of everything that had happened from him falling in the veil until now. I told him all about Draco and how I had helped him and how he now needed help and how Sirius could help him. I told him about how good Severus had been to me even though he looked sort of annoyed at the thought of it. I told him about Voldemort and moving here and Bella. I told him about Edward and he looked honestly happy that I had found someone so amazing.

I told him we had to go help Draco now before it was too late and how Alice was waiting and he nodded. "Alright, let me just get my coat and we can go." He said nodded with a smile, he let out a shuddering breath as he looked at me, "You just as handsome and brave as the last time I'd seen you," he smiled at me in a fatherly way, "I really missed you kid." He said and turned away to grab his coat before leading me to the front door.

I smiled softly, heading toward the front door with him. When we exited I saw Jacob sitting there and Sirius smiled at him, "I take it you two have met?" He asked, "Jacob and his friends found me," he said smiling at me.

"I know what they are Sirius," I said rolling my eyes at him, "I'm not blind."

Sirius rolled his back, "Jacob, this is my godson Harry, he's a wizard too."

"You told?" I asked him as we headed down the steps, Jacob didn't look too surprised so I figured he had heard us talking. Oddly this didn't really bother me.

"Well, I didn't think I had anything to lose, plus I can still perform magic, right? That, and when a group of wolves find you in the woods I kind of maybe shot off a few spells when my wits came back," Sirius said with a playful smirk. I noticed Jacob smiling softly in a sad sort of way; something told me this was the most playful Sirius had been in a while.

"I'll drive you guys, Sirius still hasn't mastered the American style of driving," Jacob said heading in the direction of a new house.

"Not unless you count motorcycles," Sirius added to me, "But I don't have my licence for that yet."

Jacob looked over to me and rolled his eyes, "He can't help speeding in the test."

I smiled softly, _of course_, I thought shaking my head slightly.

Jacob led us over to a Volkswagen of some sort and directed us to all climb in and we sped off towards Forks. I told Jacob the road I had come down, "Alice is waiting for me there." I told them.

Jacob scowled, "Bloodsuckers," he scoffed, "I don't get why you associate with them."

I gave him a glare I learned from Severus, "People would say that about you where I come from; however, I got to know one with a heart of gold and I know now not all of them are evil. The Cullen's are the good type of vampires. I am more inclined to believe you are the good kind of werewolf." 

Jacob scowled and Sirius just shook his head with a sigh, "Don't even try Harry, they're pretty stubborn about the whole protecting the village thing."

I just sighed and sat back for the ride. I resolved to settle this prejudice later.

- T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L –

Jacob parked in front of Alice's car and I climbed out. I ran over to her car and she smiled tightly at me from her driver's seat, "What's going on?" She asked trying to sound casual.

I smiled at her, "I found what I was looking for," I said pointing out Sirius in the car, "He's my godfather." I explained and she smiled softly, "He's also Draco's uncle," understanding dawned on her face. I let out a hysterically relieved laugh, "And Severus has already told me he's a match."

Alice let out a relieved laugh as well and got out the car to sweep me into a hug and twirl us around in happiness. I laughed, tears falling from my eyes, "Come on, let's go," I said pulling her stone hand towards her car.

"Wait," Alice said walking calmly over to Jacob's car, although I could see that he was tensing inside of it. She stopped short of his open driver's window and smiled softly at Jacob, "I wanted to thank you for any help you gave Harry, and I wanted you to know that if Harry has shown me anything it is that not all monsters are evil and the evil ones ought to properly feared and dealt with." Jacob stiffened in his seat and Sirius looked curious as to where she was going with this. "Your pack has more than shown itself to be the good kind. From me you will receive no hate or prejudice. I would hope to receive the same in return. We don't have to be best friends, but I wish that we could at least hold civil conversations with each other. We are on the same side." She said simply and bowed her head slightly before retreating back to her car. "Follow us to the hospital," she called as I went around to the other side and got in.

She smiled at me as she drove back down the road. "Do you think that changed his mind even a little?" she asked seeming a little disheartened.

I glanced back to see Sirius and Jacob talking in his car and from Jacob's frowns it seemed they were having a serious conversation. "I think it's possible," I told her with a small smile.

She glanced over at me with a small smile before looking down at her phone which was buzzing, "Edward is going to kill us," she said simply and I chuckled.

"Good thing we are going to a hospital then," I sighed, leaning back in my chair as she ignored the call and laughed.

**A/N: Alright, calm down. I know this seems 'random' but actually I've planned this out this way from the start. I know Sirius seems probably really unlike himself, what with the not going to see if he could find them, but we will get to see more into his line of thinking next time and it does sort of make a little sense. After Azkaban and James and Lily and then possibly losing everyone else suddenly, he didn't want to believe they were gone so he chose instead to live in ignorance. **

**Also, I know he seems to appear out of nowhere, but honestly, that was the point. Harry had no idea he was in Forks/La Push. He just happened to find his name in the phone book and took a chance.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Yes, I know, I took a month of Sundays (probably more) to get this out. I am sorry, life got weird for a while, but it is kinda back to normal. So, hopefully I will update more regularly, but no promises.**

**Chapter 14**

**(Harry's POV)**

The moment I had stepped out of the car I had grabbed onto Sirius' arm and practically dragged him inside. I left Alice and Jacob to awkwardly follow side by side as I brushed by nurses and doctors to get to Draco's room. I didn't spare a single person a glance as I rushed towards the room.

Once there, I gripped the door handle and thrust it open and rushed inside. Inside Draco lay, his breathing shallow and his eyes cast at half mast while Luna gazed over at him from her bed, a sad, helpless look in her eyes.

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Draco," I breathed before I rushed to his bedside. "It's going to be okay," I whispered standing over him, running a hand through his spare hair. "It's going to be okay, Sirius is here. He's alive," I whispered, looking him earnestly into his eyes, gripping one of his hands in both of mine. He was so cold. "Please, just stay with us a little longer. I'll be okay."

"H-arry," he rasped. He breathed in a shuddering breath, "You're here," he whispered, his eyes glistening. "I thought you wouldn't make it…."

"No," I cried, gripping his hand tighter. He looked like death. "Draco, it's going to be okay," I said getting steadily louder, "It's going to be okay."

His eyes looked glazed over as he spoke, and I wasn't sure if it was to me or not. "Hermione hasn't come; always with Ron…."

I felt tears run down my face as I shook my head harshly, "Draco," I choked out hiccupping, "Please, please, it's going to be okay," I whispered bringing our clasped hands to my face and holding it there. "Please, please," I whispered to whatever God was out there.

I heard movement behind me, but I didn't let go. "Please," I sobbed, "Hold on, Draco. It's going to be okay. I promise. Please. God, please." I let my sobs take over me and let them cause my body to shake and convulse.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, but didn't let him go. I couldn't let him go. "Harry," Severus' deep voice penetrated my misery. "It's okay," Severus echoed my words back to me. "It's going to be okay. You can let go now."

I felt another sob rock through me and I gently lay his hand back on the bed and turned away, into Severus, who pulled me into a hug, my head against his chest. "You did well Harry. Do not fret. Everything will be okay."

I shook my head, "Too late. I was too late," I sobbed harder onto his shoulder. I could hear them wheeling something away and I felt nauseous at the thought. How could they do that so soon?

"Hardly Harry," Severus whispered, "Right on time if you ask me."

I stopped sobbing to look up at his face, which seemed lighter than I'd seen it in a long time. "What?" I croaked, not believing him, a few more tears escaped and I brushed them away hastily and sniffled.

Severus actually smiled down at me, "If there is anything that hasn't changed at all, Mr Potter, it is that Gryffindor-Hero Complex of yours."

I felt tears fall from my eyes again, but these ones happy. "He's going to be okay?"

"With the timely help of your Dogfather, yes," Severus answered with another shocking smile.

I stared at him for a moment before turning to look at Luna. She smiled softly at me and uttered only, "Told you."

- T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L - T J L –

I sat on a bench outside Ron's room, afraid to go in, and afraid of going anywhere else. Edward sure to find me sometime and I had been avoiding him. Luna had given me the heads up when he was on his way and I had taken off to here, as I could think of nowhere else to go.

My mind was occupied with enough thoughts without having to deal with a petty argument we would probably get into about the damn werewolves. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest at the news that Draco's transplant was going through and was allegedly going well. Ron was going through his transformation seemingly without too much pain as well which was a comfort and Luna was getting back on her feet quickly.

I sighed, my head leaning back against the wall. "There you are," the voice startled me so badly I nearly fell off the bench. I whipped around to look at Edward who was standing casually against the wall with his arms crossed just a few feet from me, looking upon me with a stern expression.

"Ah, so you found me," I said somewhat disgruntled.

Edward raised an eyebrow at me, "I would have thought you'd be more cheerful. What with everyone getting better and you getting your godfather back," He said sounding slightly agitated.

I nodded taking a deep breath, looking at the opposite wall. "Yeah, I know."

"You do know that going into La Push without anyone to help you maybe wasn't a good idea considering you can't do magic, right?" he asked sounding annoyed.

I glared at Edward, feeling a rush of annoyance at him. I stood up, feeling that I should at least put us slightly on more even ground, "I had to. It could have been Sirius, and it was. I just barely saved Draco. Can't you see that what I did was-" I cut myself off there, my eyes going wide.

Edward suddenly grew concerned, "Harry?" he asked taking a step forward.

"Oh Merlin, I almost said…. I almost said it was for the greater good." I frowned; I had long since resolved that 'for the greater good' wasn't a good way of looking at things. It enabled one to make too many sacrifices with people's lives. I looked into Edward's face and I could see concern and the worry deeply etched in his eyes. Edward honestly cared for me, and he was scared. He was scared because I took what he saw as a risk to my life, without so much as a second thought, for someone else's life. I glanced away before looking back at Edward and slowly approached him; he looked even more concerned as I wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry for scaring you," I finally said, "I had to do it. I know I don't often put my safety first, I realize that must be hard for you. I'm sorry," I said getting steadily quieter as I spoke, not looking him in the face.

His arms slowly wrapped around me, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help," he finally said, "I know you just wanted to help. Please Harry; you're the most important thing to me in the universe. I can't lose you, and the thought of you there, where I couldn't have reached you…."

I squeezed my eyes shut; I could imagine how it would have felt for him. I'd felt that helplessness in relation to Draco's situation and many others. I hugged him harder, suddenly unwilling to let him go. "I'm sorry," I whispered again, "I just- Sirius- and then Draco-"

Edward pulled away some, "Are you crying? Harry…," he said pulling me back to him as I dissolved into tears again. It was just all too much in the past few days. "It's okay, Harry, everything will be okay."

I gripped his shirt in my hands, wishing my life wasn't so complicated and tragic. I wished I could just live and be happy, but apparently fate had other ideas. Edward held me there, swaying me slightly and kissing the top of my head and my forehead every once in a while.

Eventually I stopped crying and wiped my eyes, "I'm sorry," I murmured, "I'm not so sure what just happened… probably the stress of everything."

"Its fine," he answered cupping my face gently and kissing my lips. I felt a fluttering deep in my gut and smiled softly at him, "I just wish you didn't feel that saving everyone was your job. It's not, we love you for it, but if you don't save everyone from everything no one would blame you. You moved here, Harry, so that you could live your life, and you didn't have to take care of everyone. So why can't you just accept that I just want to take care of you and let me?" he asked, his golden eyes swimming with honesty and passion.

I smiled softly at Edward and threw my arms around his neck as I kissed him, "I want you to take care of me," I whispered, "I really do. I want to be there for you and you to be there for me…. It's just… sometimes…."

He chuckled softly, "I know, it's okay, we'll get through this, all of it. Everything will be okay."

I smiled up at him, "I know, thank you," I murmured and he grinned down at me.

"Don't you have someone to visit?" he hedged, glancing at the door to Ron's room.

I sighed casting it a glance as well, I frowned debating, "Yes," I answered, looking at the stark white door. "I do," I nodded taking a deep breath, "Alright… thank you," I said again, kissing his cheek softly, before I disappeared into the room.

A steady beeping was the first thing I heard, and I found that odd for a moment, because I thought Ron would have an altered heartbeat. I also expected him to look somehow distressed, but instead he was lying peacefully in the bed, his red hair appearing to be the liveliest thing about him.

The walls of the room were a cool blue and it was pretty bare, except for the window letting light stream in and Hermione's constant presence by his side. She looked up when I entered, and smiled softly at me in greeting. She, fittingly, looked like she had been here for days, her clothes were rumpled, her now normally tamed hair reminded me of her first years at Hogwarts, and she had dark bags under her eyes. "Harry," she said softly, almost as if she was afraid of waking him. "It's so good to see you. I heard about Sirius, I was so happy to hear about him and Draco. I-" she cut herself off, looking embarrassed, "I haven't been able to bring myself to leave Ron to see them…."

I smiled softly at her dedication, "I know, it's okay. I think they understand." I said even though I felt a little miffed she had not gone to Draco when he was almost gone; however, I had a feeling someone hadn't informed her of the seriousness of it. I could not see her just sitting by while a friend was on the brink of death, she would have gone to him. "I almost didn't make it in time for Draco," I said, hoping to see her reaction.

She instantly paled and stood, shaking with her eyes wide, and I knew I had been right, "What?" she asked looking horrified, "Draco-" she again cut herself off, "They… they only said he was getting sicker… and that Luna was with him…. I didn't think- I thought they would-" she cut herself off again, pressing a hand to her mouth and falling into the chair. "Merlin's Beard," she gasped out, "I could have missed it," looking heartbroken.

I smiled sadly at her, "But it's alright, everything's okay," I said trying to comfort her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head sharply, "No, I have to go see him now." She jumped up looking flustered and looked to Ron and back to me, "Will you stay with him?" she asked softly and I nodded. She disappeared out the door.

I sat hesitantly in the spot Hermione had just left. I cleared my throat slightly, "Hi Ron. It's Harry," I paused, not sure how to continue. "I guess- I guess I'll just tell you what has happened since you were shot…" I said trailing off before launching into the whole story, including how I had begged Carlisle to help him, help me. By the end of it I was brushing the occasional tear away, "I am so sorry, Ron, I really am. I know, I'm a terrible person to have done this to you. Please forgive me, I couldn't lose you, you're my best friend, my first friend, my brother-" I choked on the word and swallowed, trying to compose myself.

"I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I did this to you, did this to Hermione. It was selfish of me, I know that, but I couldn't- You're just too important to me." I covered my mouth with my hand to keep for saying more and to hold in the croaking sounds of my sobs. "Oh Merlin, Ron, I am so damn sorry," I blurted before launching myself from the seat and then the room. I could not bear to watch him sleep, watch him turn to what I would soon be, see the evidence of what I had done to him. Was it better than him being dead? Certainly, but I was sure he wouldn't see it that way. I had damned him to an everlasting life without Hermione, and he didn't even know it yet.

I leant against the wall outside his room until Hermione came back, I wasn't sure how long she had been, but she came over to me when she saw me. She sat down next to me and put her head on my shoulder, "I think I think too much," she muttered after a few minutes of silence.

I was so confounded by this sudden confession I glanced at her before snorting into laughter. "What?" I asked in confusion.

Hermione's lips twitched into a smile briefly, "I think I think too much," she repeated, "about the future specifically," she said, both to sobering, "about you, and what we're going to have to do, and Ron and what that will happen with us, and if Draco and Luna will last…." She paused for a moment, "I am sorry I broke down about Ron and made you do that. It was not fair to you, I should have done something, talked to Carlisle myself, or tried magic… or anything else but make you do that, make you feel like you had to save him. I am sorry." She finally said looking up at me. "It was not fair to you."

I smiled softly down at her, "It's okay. At least, eventually, I think it will be. I would have done it anyways if I had known." I muttered, "I just keep thinking he's going to wake up and hate me so much for this."

Hermione held my hand softly in hers, "I don't think he will, I think he will be glad to see another day. He has changed a lot since the end of the war, since what happened to his family, he's sad, very, very sad, but everyday he tells me he is glad to see another, so he can enjoy it for them." She smiled softly, "I think he will be sad to never see them again, that I am certain, maybe angry at first… but not for forever." She smiled in a way that made me think she was thinking about something that happened a long time ago, "You know once, a very long time ago, he said that he'd give up everything to spend forever with you and me, getting into mischief and causing people like Snape to yank out their hair and taking on the evil of the world until there was nothing else but goodness." She smiled off into the distance, "No, I do not think he will hate you," she said finally as if she had come to a great conclusion in her head. I wasn't too sure I believed her, but I decided to trust her on this.

She stood up suddenly, "Alright, I think we've both had a enough moping about, let's go visit Luna and Draco, we can come back here later." She said extending her arm to help me up.

"Yes, Ma'am," I said saluting to her, which caused her to smile brightly at me.


	16. Chapter 15

Hey there, just a heads up, while updates will not be able to be classified as 'frequent' I will be trying my best to get stuff out relatively often.

_**WARNING**_: this chapter includes heavy themes. There will be _**discussions**_ to do with _**depression/suicidal thoughts**_ and _**sex**_, but nothing more. You have been warned. I am sorry if this causes any adverse emotions, it was not my intention to bring up anything that may be upsetting on a personal level.

I suppose I should point out that there will never be any sex (like legit writing of sex not just talking about it) in this (or likely any of my work) (I know, what a shocking disappointment) and as much as I like to keep this under wraps, there will also be no deaths of major characters.

I am sorry_** if anyone is**_ _**OOC, explained at bottom**_ (_**do not read it ahead of the chapter**_ or you'll probably ruin things) and I encourage you to actually read it because you can review and talk to me about things you would like to see happen.

**Chapter 15**

**(Harry's POV)**

I wandered into Luna's room again sometime after midnight. I had been back and forth between Ron's and here all night, but Hermione and I had decided it was probably about time to cool down and go to sleep so I headed back to Luna and Draco's because I knew they had a long padded window bench I could lie on.

Luna was still awake when I came back. Draco had been asleep since his operation and Severus sat in the chair by his bed fast asleep but from behind I almost thought he was awake. Luna smiled over to me and I smiled back, going over to her bed. "Hey, I'm back, again," I said smiling softly and she smiled faintly.

"Hey," she sighed, staring up at the ceiling before clearing her throat.

I winced, "Hey, thank you so much for saving me," I said my eyes glued to my hands which were folded and resting on her bed.

Her hand came into view and held onto mine, "Don't worry about it, Harry."

I shook my head, frowning, "No, seriously, I am very thankful for what you guys did. I will never be able to repay you for what you've done. I can't thank you enough." I said passionately causing her to blush.

She looked sad for a moment, "No, Harry, I have you to thank." I was silent, waiting for her to go on, "Back in fifth year, I would never had made it through if it wasn't for you guys." She hiccupped slightly before brushing away a tear before it could barely even escape. "Merlin, Harry, I was so miserable. I had no one. No one liked me or even gave me a chance, but you guys… if it wasn't for you guys… I don't know what I would have done…. I had though- thought no one would miss me if I… but only a few times and always briefly…" she cut herself off and I gripped her hand tightly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked feeling heartbroken for never seeing it before.

She smiled softly, "I knew it would be over soon." She said her eyes looking wet and gave out a single chuckle, shaking her head, "I didn't believe it when I saw it… but I saw us. Draco, Hermione, Ron, you, and I… we were all laughing together and you guys hugged me. I saw you; I saw that you would never let me ever think that again. Merlin, I saw how much you loved me like a sister. I could feel how much you all cared for me…. I saw that I would love you so damn much for being my foolish and reckless -and breakable- brother and- damn it Harry- I _had_ to wait it out. I _had_ to see it for myself." She gave a short laugh again, "I have never been happier for it," she confessed and I instantly pulled her towards me in as tight a hug as I dared.

"Oh Luna," I whispered in her ear, "I still wish you told me earlier. I can't imagine us here without you…." I smiled softly. "Draco would be _so_ unbearable," I joked which caused her dissolve into laughter, letting a few tears out as she did.

"Thank you Harry, my brother, my best friend," She whispered, "Thank you for saving me."

- TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL -

I softly sang her to sleep that night, watching as she drifted to sleep and feeling a strange mix of heartbroken and happy for what she had told me. I only just heard the door creep open when I was absolutely sure she was asleep. I turned to look over to Edward who was standing by the door. "I thought you might like a lift home for the night… I can bring you back bright and early but I figured you might want a nice, real bed."

I grinned and him and went to him, "Only if you keep me company," I stated, grabbing his hand. He looked at me strangely, almost as if he was uncomfortable; I looked questioningly back, "You know, because I don't like being alone in that big house… it's too empty." It made me frown just thinking about it. The house just felt so alive with the others there that it was hard not to notice when they were gone.

"Oh," Edward said sounding surprised for some reason, "Of course. Yeah, of course, I will." He said kissing the top of my head.

"Why?" I asked bewildered, I stared at him in confusion, "What did you think I meant?"

He smiled a crooked smile at me which made me realize that he was really amused by something I had said, "Oh, nothing, love. Come on, it's late."

I was almost too busy trying to understand what he was talking about to notice the tingly feeling I got when he called me 'love.' "Edward," I protested, "What-"

"Oh hush," he chuckled, kissing me softly before pulling me along.

- TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL -

I woke slowly, feeling warmer than usual and amazingly comfortable. I took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of a fresh morning and I felt the arm around my waist tighten slightly, pulling me closer to the body behind me. I stretched slightly, letting out a strange contented noise.

I heard a soft breath behind me that sounded like a whispered chuckle. I opened my eyes slightly and shuffled awkwardly until I managed to turn over and face Edward. I let out that content noise again; practically head butting him in the chest when I settled. Edward suddenly burst out laughing, rolling away onto his back. My eyes opened narrowed and glared at him, "Excuse me, some of us are trying to sleep," I grouched which just made him laugh more.

I rolled my eyes and slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position and threw my legs over the side, just sitting there while his chuckles eventually ceased. I heard the bed springs as he shifted to a sitting position as well. "What is it?" he asked, somehow sensing that I was troubled.

"You thought I meant I wanted to sleep with you yesterday." I stated, not turning to him, just gazing out the window at the trees and the rain that was idly coming down.

"Yes, for a moment," he confirmed.

I frowned, "Why- why did you act like I-" I frowned, trying to think up a better way to phrase it, "Why did you seem so shocked and uncomfortable? Are- Do you not- er" I didn't think I could ask him if he was uncomfortable with the thought of him and I. I wasn't even sure if that was what I was asking. I just shut my eyes and rested them in my hands. I had no clue where my brain wanted me to go.

"Harry," he came and wrapped his arms around me from behind. I sighed and leaned back into him, drawing comfort from him even though there was a part of me that felt rejected by him. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way, I'm sorry. It's not that I don't want to… and it's not that I'm not sure about us… it's just I'm old fashioned, for obvious reasons," I could feel his smile as he kissed my cheek softly. "I just don't want to- not until you're really mine."

"As in marriage?" I clarified, because as far as I could tell, in my heart, I was his.

"Yes," he said kissing my cheek again. "If I had it my way we would be married _before_ you were even turned, but time is of the essence."

I sighed in relief, relaxing fully against him, "Oh good," I muttered, smiling softly, "I just- I thought maybe- I mean you were dating Bella…" I heard a slight growl at that and I really couldn't help the small smile at hearing it, "and I didn't know if you… with her-"

"Oh no," he said sounding shocked and appalled, "No way, maybe if we had stayed together and got married, but no way. She wanted to, badly, but no." I felt so relieved… the thought of Edward and her… I felt cheated, hurt, and for no real good reason.

"What about you?" He asked softly, as if he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. "You dated people before right?" he asked, "When you were at Hogwarts and back in England… did you ever…?" he trailed off, pressing his forehead against the back of my head.

"No," I said instantly, thinking back to Ginny. "I only really ever dated Ginny," I explained, "and I didn't want to, not before leaving Hogwarts at the very least." I snorted, "My dorm mates all thought I was out of my mind. They didn't understand how I could possibly resist… neither could Ginny… she tried to convince me more than once." I swallowed roughly, "I thought for a bit that had been why she did it… that because I wouldn't she went somewhere else." I knew that was harsh but I had found her in a compromising position, what else was I supposed to think.

He hugged me tightly at that, "I'm sorry that I made you think that I didn't want you, and I'm sorry if you ever thought you have to for me, I never meant to; I wouldn't ever do that to you."

I smiled softly and turned slightly to kiss his cheek, "I know, I just wanted to clear the air… be sure we were both on the same page." I said softly, smiling, "Now, come on, do you want some breakfast- oh… or, er, do you want to come with me to the kitchen for my breakfast?" I asked awkwardly but smiling. He chuckled and nodded, kissing my cheek.

No one was home so I just fried some scrambled eggs with some tomato and cheese for myself while Edward sat at the counter and watched me. I sat beside him, eating in silence when I was done, with his arm around my waist. "I feel kind of bad I can't get you anything," I said finally. "I was practically the Dursley's butler… it feels strange, like you're waiting on me," I finally said. "I did not think that I would feel so unsettled by it."

"Would you like me to leave? I could go watch some TV while you finish?" He asked rubbing my side and playing with the hem of my oversized pajama shirt.

I shook my head, "No, I'm almost done anyways."I smiled up at him, "Thanks though, you're amazing and I know I can't give you anything you'll enjoy… and if I did you'd probably flip your lid." I told him chuckling softly.

He raised an eyebrow at me just as I finished the last of my eggs and the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," he said shaking his head in amusement at me, and then he was gone faster than I could see.

I heard voices at the front door but I couldn't really hear what was being said as I put my dishes away. I was headed there when I heard Sirius yell, "Harry James Potter, come here now!" I cringed, he sounded miffed, but I hadn't a clue why. It made me pick up the pace, a worried look sliding onto my face.

"Sirius?" I asked softly as I approached, he looked practically livid and Edward looked sheepish, embarrassed and confused. He suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm pulling me towards me, causing me to stumble just slightly. "Sirius, what's going-"

"You, Mr. Cullen, please leave; I need a word with my godson. Now," he growled out, making me think of his animagus form.

"Sirius, what! No, Edward-" I don't think I have ever been so confused. What exactly had just happened to make him so angry at Edward? Sirius was fine with him when I told him about Edward, what exactly had changed?

Edward looked at me, shaking his head, "No, it's alright, Harry, I'll see you later." I pulled away from Sirius, going over to him to give him a goodbye kiss. Edward hugged me after and nodded to Sirius, and left. I felt confused and upset by all of this.

Sirius glared after him, before glaring at me. "Harry Potter, just what the hell were you thinking? We need to talk, now." He said shutting the door.

I led him towards the kitchen before turning towards him, "Sirius, just what are you talking about?"

"Harry, what are you doing inviting your boyfriend to stay overnight in your empty house? That's highly inappropriate and-" he cut himself off looking greatly upset by this. "Does Snape know? He probably does, the wanker."

"Hey," I said cutting him off, "Sirius you can't talk about him like that. Snape has been there for me and I care about him greatly. I don't know what you're talking about with Edward. We didn't do anything; I just didn't want to be alone."

"A likely story," Sirius outburst, "and even if that was _your_ intention, I highly doubt he saw it that way. I was a teenage boy once, Harry. You're too young! You don't even know this boy!"

I suddenly was overcome with anger, "Edward isn't like that, and I do know him, Sirius! I'm his mate for Merlin's sake!" I shouted at him.

"Oh, is that the line he's told you, what about this other girlfriend he's had, hmm?" Sirius shouted back.

I felt immensely frustrated by this conversation all of a sudden, I felt my anger just building in me with no escape, except to maybe lunge at Sirius and started punching him until it felt better. I didn't feel I would be able to formulate what I wanted to explain into sentences that would actually make sense. To make matters worse, tears started to cling to my eyes, silently asking permission to fall, which I was not going to let happen right now, nothing would make me feel more pathetic.

The front door suddenly burst open, and the shadow of a tall lean man hastily walking towards the kitchen could be seen. There was a split second where my mind told me that had he been wearing his cloak, that shape would have resembled a bat.

Severus stopped at the threshold leading to the kitchen and looked between Sirius and I before sneering, "What have you done now Mutt?" he asked growling.

Sirius obviously could not contain himself a moment longer. "You hypocritical, moronic, stupid, old bat Snivellus! What the hell is wrong with you?" He practically screamed at Severus. I was half tempted to sit down and just wait the upcoming shouting match out.

"My Sirius, I was not aware you knew such big words. Gosh, hypocritical, what a feat… unfortunately though you still don't know the meaning of it." Severus sneered and I just sighed, taking a seat.

"Do you even know what you've been allowing my godson to do in this very house? He and Edward stayed here last night!" I sighed, knowing that there was no way I would get a word in to defend myself.

Severus turned to me, "Is this true Harry?" He asked calmly.

I took a deep breath, but it didn't calm me, "Yes, he did, but we didn't do anything!" I looked right into Severus' eyes, knowing that he would know I wasn't lying.

Sirius rounded on me, "Again, a likely story, I know how boys are Harry. I know that the likelihood that you and your boyfriend, who had the house to themselves, just went to bed is completely ridiculous!"

"Be that as it may," Severus started looking back to Sirius, "You failed to take into account that this is Harry James Potter-Snape," I cringed, _you've got to be kidding me, Severus, why would you do this to me?_ I asked myself knowing that the apocalypse was imminent now. "And although I am slightly displeased that he would not inform me prior to having someone who is not of quasi direct relation and worse someone who he is in a relationship with over, I am not at all concerned about whether they engaged in sexual acts or not." My face went abruptly red and I twiddled with my fingers awkwardly, "And that is exactly why," Severus suddenly added point to me, causing me to become even more mortified, if at all possible.

Sirius scrutinized me for a moment before deflating slightly before rounding on Severus, "What do you mean not concerned _at all_?" he narrowed his eyes at Severus.

Severus rolled his eyes, "Well, Sirius, he is practically an adult in our world, not to mention I am positive you and I had engaged in such acts when we were much younger than he is now." I wanted to die. I wanted this conversation to just stop. There was a look that was shared between Sirius and Snape that was a complete mystery to me, but it caused Sirius to relax his shoulders, obviously calming finally. "And, frankly, Sirius, if Harry wished to be having sex with Edward," _kill me, just kill me, Voldemort can have me_ I thought, "there would be no way either of us could stop him, nor would I want to. Besides that, I think he's entitled to the right to after everything he's gone through."

I just watched the two; it seemed that Severus had successfully calmed Sirius down. "What about this Potter-Snape business?" Sirius asked with narrowed eyes at Snape.

Severus rolled his eyes, "I have agreed to take in Draco and Harry has my adopted children. After the war they both came to me and asked me if I would allow them to take my last name. This was confirmed not too long ago by the Ministry of Magic in England. The children are all considered my wards and adopted children, except for Hermione, who I am just the guardian of, and I have no issues if any of them wanted my name."

Sirius looked like he was having an internal battle for a moment before he nodded looking down, "Yeah, alright," he paused for a second before looking at Severus with eyes filled with misery, "I wanted to thank you, for being there for them all when I couldn't-"

"Sirius," I said standing in surprise and outrage, "That wasn't your fault-"

"Harry, please, just let me get this out," he pleaded and I became silent. "Severus, I just wanted you to knew that I am really thankful that you did that, and I am forever in your debt and… and I am sorry, sorry for everything."

I was stunned, shocked. I didn't think Sirius would ever say anything like that to Severus unless it was under pain of death. Severus inclined his head, "No thanks or debt necessary, but I thank you for your apology." There was something unmistakable in the way he was looking at Sirius. It was almost like he was telling him silently that he was forgiven.

Sirius nodded then, "Okay, cool, um…" he looked between us before flashing me a small smile, "I am going to go to the hospital, Ron's waking up today, and Draco's awake. I guess I should go say hi to my nephew…. I will see you two there."

There was a tense moment after he left in which Severus just stood there with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed, "So, did you have a pleasant evening?" he asked in a way that made me cringe.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you he was coming over… we really didn't do anything," I apologized, blushing again.

Severus smirked, "I know you didn't… 'blushing virgin' doesn't even skim the surface." I blushed harder at that, to my embarrassment, "And while I am displeased with you for not telling me beforehand, I am sure this past conversation was punishment enough." I felt somewhat relieved by this. "However, I will say this, while I will not stop you, I do not think it is wise to engage in such acts with a vampire while in such a fragile state; although you are not in a hospital bed like Draco, I would argue that you are sicker than he was. I hate to remind you, but you are without your magic, and you have a mass murdering lurking in your subconscious. He is a vampire with insurmountable power in comparison… I do not want to see you hurt." The feelings of wanting death now and quickly returned with my blush.

"I know, Severus, we talked about it for a bit this morning," I confessed, "We won't be doing anything like that until at least I am a vampire… and even then it's unlikely we will until we are married."

He seemed somewhat impressed by this, "That is a great commitment you have made, Harry. I am proud that you two are comfortable enough in your relationship to talk about such things and that you are compatible and mature enough to be able to come to a decision so easily. I know this has been a reason for conflict in previous relationships and I am glad it will not be a cause for worry in this one."

I smiled, "I know," I twiddled with my fingers, "He's too good to me sometimes," I told him chucking slightly.

Severus came and pulled me into a one armed hug, "hardly," he murmured softly and when I looked up I noticed that he was wearing a small honest smile, "Now come," he said pulling me towards the door.

- TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL -

- TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL - TJL -

Hi, okay, on the subject of _**Edward and Sirius's interactions**_: Keep in mind Sirius has been living on his own for a while now and has likely grown up (a tad) and if you thought him freaking out was weird, keep in mind that the time he has spent with Harry as a whole would probably only be totally 3 years at the most… and either way he still probably sees Harry as a child, and _his_ child at that… and he just met Edward for the first time… not a good way to start things off.

As for _**Sirius and Severus…**_ I didn't really think too far into what I wanted from them as to their relationship… I know I don't want them to hate each other… but I want them to be out of character… which is pretty much impossible. I wouldn't mind them in a couple-y relationship, I wouldn't mind them just banding together to take care of the kids… I don't know. It's pretty much all in the air, and feel welcome to tell me what to do.

I do know though that the air has been cleared, as unlikely as that would be in the books. They both have grown up, they're both free from the war and they both care about Harry and the others, I think they would be willing to let it go.

_**Luna**_: I always thought that her strength in the face of her classmates who have teased her and done terrible things to her is admirable and one of the most beautiful things about her, and I didn't want to take away from that. However, I don't think she's as naïve and ignorant as people tend to think she is, hence her seeing ability as a whole. I think she's seen what her classmates have done and it has made her extremely sad, and she's not hiding it, which is the last thing I want her to seem like she's doing. I wanted to show her as someone with an incredible amount of hope and faith, hope for her future and faith in Harry, as she always did have in the books.

I wanted to show her as a character who has, essentially, been shat on and is pulling though, just barely, because she had the strength to want to see a better future with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco. If you felt I did take away from her character, I feel disappointed in my portrayal of her and in either case I would love to hear opinions of her and how I did and any ideas people may have.


	17. Chapter 16

**I knowwww, I'm not dead!? I'm shocked too!**

**Chapter 16**

**(Harry's POV)**

After I changed into some comfortable clothes for the day, a very loose t-shirt (not from Dudley, which I was proud to say) that was a light navy blue and long and had a large boat neckline that showed off my collar bones and hung in a way that hid how malnourished I used to be (Hermione had gone with Draco, Severus and I shopping for 'real clothes' after finding out about the Dursley's and Draco and her had banded together to help me find things to wear) and it made me look average, which suited me just fine to be honest. I wore one of my tighter pairs of dark blue jeans and black converse high tops and made my way down to Severus.

He raised an eyebrow at me as I bounced over to him, I blushed, "What?" he just smirked and shook his head, motioning for us to leave.

After he apparated us there he suggested I go to find Draco and talk to him while he finds out about Ron. I wandered into his room to find Luna sitting by his bed, looking completely fine, I was so shocked by her quick recovery I jumped, which caused her to grin at me. Draco looked over to me somewhat lazily and chuckled, "Harry," he exclaimed, as much as a recovering post-surgery patient can, and grinned at me too, "Come sit, I have to tell you about the surgery!" he called joyously and I rolled my eyes but went to sit with him. I grinned at Luna across Draco as he described in great detail the couple seconds he was awake before the surgery as if it was the most horrific and epic moment of his life.

I let him ramble on, pretending to listen, if only because I felt so happy to hear him talk about things like we were sitting together in the Room of Requirements procrastinating homework and other responsibilities. He grinned at me, looking utterly content holding Luna's hand and I laughed at one of his over-dramatized stories, which made him look offended at me laughing at his pain, but it didn't stop me, not that he thought it would. He told me Sirius had been in to see him and talk to him and tell him how happy he was to see him and how proud he was of him. Draco looked overjoyed as he spoke of someone who shared blood relation with him who was proud of him.

The door creaked open as Hermione entered, she grinned at Draco as she came over to give him a hug. "I am so glad you are okay, Draco," she said hugging him tight. She pulled away and sat beside me; informing us that Ron was awake and was asking for Harry. She told us that apparently Ron didn't have any strong desires to eat everyone in the whole hospital but he was very thirsty. The Cullen's quickly deduced that he felt a stronger appeal to animal blood than human blood, which was a pleasant surprise and therefore very safe to be around, but nonetheless the Cullen's were watching him closely and Sirius and Severus would be with him almost constantly because they could cast 'immobulus' on him if need be.

I left to go see him, a sinking feeling in my gut; I could remember every single time he had been angry with me and they all felt childish compared to this. I sighed and pushed open the door to Ron's room timidly. Around the room were Severus, Edward, Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett and I glanced over to Ron and was relieved to notice he was smiling softly at me.

"Harry," he said sounding relieved, "Thank Merlin, I thought maybe after everything that something might have happened to you."

That threw me for a second and I blinked, "Oh, no, I was okay." I bit my lip and glanced at the others. They seemed to get the hint and the others minus Edward all filed out of the room to give us just a hint of privacy. I sat down in the chair beside Ron's bed. "Yeah, I was fine…. Look, about the vampire thing-"

"Harry," Ron cut me off and rolled his eyes when I looked up at him, "Don't worry, okay. Hermione and I already talked anyways. We are going to fine and that is the only thing that matters, so no, I am not mad. I'm not even shocked really, I mean, honestly Harry, I thought I was going to die." He looked at me imploringly, "I mean, I didn't even know what that thing was until Hermione explained it just now… I just had this feeling I had to stop her… I didn't really know… but I knew when I saw what it did to Luna… I couldn't let that happen to you guys."

I just stared at him for a couple seconds, "Blood Gryffindors," I finally murmured before resting my forehead in the palm of my hands which caused Ron to burst into twinkling laughter. I looked up at him with a grin. "At least now I won't get bored just with these ancient sods, right?"

My comment and Edward's less than amused expression caused the two of us to grin almost evilly at each other. After all, Ron was the brother of the Weasley Twins and I was the son of a marauder; if they didn't understand that they were already doomed to an eternity of the wool being pulled over their eyes that was not our fault.

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**(Harry's POV)**

Ron had been released by Carlisle a couple hours ago now and Emmett and Jasper took him off into the woods to deal with his thirst while Carlisle, Draco, Hermione, Luna, Severus, Sirius, and I sat in Luna and Draco's room to discuss what would happen next.

"I don't feel comfortable with the block on Harry's magic being in place for much longer, a day or two at the most," Severus said looking grave. Sirius didn't look happy at the whole situation, but I supposed that was probably reasonable. I had been feeling vulnerable and naked without my magic from the start.

Carlisle nodded, "I concur," he agreed, "I have been thinking on the subject of Luna, Draco and Ron, I have noticed there has been some talk about their quick recoveries, and I was thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea to move them from the public eye."

Severus looked thoughtful, "What did you have in mind?"

Carlisle took a deep breath before explaining his plan. "There is a center in Seattle that works with trauma victims and people who require therapy for life threatening injuries or illness they have overcome. I was thinking that we could say we are transferring Harry, Draco, Luna and Ron there so that they can get therapy for Harry's speech disorder and Draco's sickness and Luna and Ron's wounds, but instead move them to my home. We don't get many visitors so we can move them there without risk of people seeing them, as well as giving Ron the space to come into his new lifestyle."

I nodded, "Works for me," I said shrugging while Severus nodded, deep in thought.

"Yes, I believe that will work accordingly. Do you have the space for them?" He asked, to which Carlisle nodded. He nodded, "It's settled then. How soon can the papers be worked out?"

"Edward and Alice are speaking to someone who works up these things for us, and as far as I know they will get back to me in less than an hour," Carlisle explained, "For now I suggest working out what you need to be taken to our house and getting yourselves ready."

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I sat in Carlisle's study later that day, just focusing on breathing in and out again. Ron sat next to me, quietly explaining what happened during his change. "It's a sharp pain at first, burning really from the point where you were bitten, or injected rather," he said quietly, "It's not terrible after that. It's like you float away and you can see pictures, memories, passing in front of your eyes." He paused for a moment or two, "I saw my family, before the war. I was young then, before Hogwarts, and we were playing together in the backyard…, doing chores…, sitting together at dinner…, Christmas…. I saw my time at school, with you and Hermione…. Saw Fred and George… Ginny before…." He was silent then. "I can remember it all quite clearly, all those images… not dreams anymore but a part of me… immortal in my mind… and everything bad, everything terrible from the war… it's all washed away under a raging river in my mind. I can still remember it, but it's foggy, less imposing, less suffocating…." I glanced over at him; he was staring far off into space before he looked over at me, "it's possibly the best thing that's ever happened to me."

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That afternoon I lay on a table set up in the open space of Carlisle's office with my eyes closed, a cold hand slipped into my grasp and I breathed deeply, feeling my chest shake and rattle like its own little earthquake was taking place as I tried to contain my emotions. Ice cold lips caressed my scarred forehead, his own quivering slightly, "I won't let anything happen to you," Edward whispered, "I promise you. Everything will be okay."

Air whooshed in and out of my lungs somewhat calmer. "I know," I breathed, "I love you."

Lips pressed to mine, forming perfectly against mine and I pressed forward slightly, trying to put all my soul into it. "I love you too," he whispered, "But don't say it like a goodbye," he chastised.

My lips twitched slightly, "You know me too well," I said finally pealing my eyes open to look into his amber orbs. "I really do though… love you."

Edward smiled down at me; his eyes seemed full of amusement as he did, "I know. I'll be right beside you."

I smiled, reaching up to caress his cheek softly, "Thank you." We were both quiet for a while, "I'm scared," I confessed.

Edward ran a hand through my hair, his eyebrows pulled together in concern, "About what?"

I sniffed, hoping to keep my emotions in check, "Ron says you see memories of your past while you're under… I- I don't want to confront them."

His eyes softened and I knew I assuaged his concerns that I was having second thoughts. "Don't worry, my love, it will be over quickly, and we'll all be here." He hugged me tightly, pressing his cheek against mine and I breathed deeply the smell of him, committing it to memory.

He lowered me back onto the table and smiled down at me. Edward grabbed my hand again as we heard the door opened. The two of us looked up as Carlisle entered with a syringe filled with milky fluid, Severus following behind. I smiled softly at the two before closing my eyes again, "I'm ready."

**Yeah, I know, calm down, the wolves will be addressed next chapter, it's a promise.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Thanks so much to all those who have recently reviewed, it's made me so happy and inspired me to write. This chapter is dedicated to you all and I promise that more updates will be coming in more frequently. I know where this story is going now and I have written a significant amount ahead that I promise this will be finished and hopefully very soon.**

**Enjoy.**

**Chapter 17**

**(Harry's POV)**

They injected the venom into my system shortly after they put my under. Severus was to release my magic and immediately after Carlisle was to inject me, this would mean that Voldemort would be loose in my mind during the turning so that the venom could completely destroy him. It made me nervous, but Severus reminded me that my magic would be loose too, and theoretically, if he was to confront me in my mind, I would have my magic to protect me as well.

There was a bright flash of pain that seemed to contract every muscle in my body sharply. The pain rocked through me, drumming through every heartbeat. Not long after the sharp pain, it began to ebb away steadily like waves crashing soothingly against a beach.

It was dark, and very quiet, and I could hear my own breathing loud in my ears. I turned around in a circle, curious as all I could see was the darkness. I put my hands out in front of me, walking cautiously, searching for something in the dark.

A bright flash to my right surprised me, and I raised my hand to my eyes to shield it from the light as my eyes adjusted. I squinted at what slowly appeared in front of me, as if playing on a television screen in my mind.

There was a flash of red hair, bright smiling green eyes and a woman's voice singing softly. I moved closer to the screen as I watched my mother hold me, dance around the room with me in her arms, singing some mysterious soft song. I drank in the sight of her as she let out a tinkling laugh. She was so beautiful.

**(Hermione's POV)**

I stood quietly beside the table Harry was lying on, he was so still, stiller than Ron had been it seemed. Edward remained vigilant beside him, standing like a statue, just staring at Harry's face. Ron stood beside him too, seeing more relaxed. I smiled when he looked up and he sent me a reassuring look.

Luna suddenly entered holding an empty bucket and sponge and set it down by Harry's bed. At my bewildered look she simply smiled and said, "Trust me, it'll make perfect sense." I wasn't sure I was looking forward to it.

**(Harry's POV)**

I breathed out a laugh, just watching her. James entered the room and the two shared a brief kiss as I was passed into my father's arms. I then let out a stream of baby noises at my father making him look down at me like I was handing him the answers to universe. He responded, but I couldn't understand his words, his voice seemed to be light and carefree though and his grin made something flutter in my heart. His face came near the screen and I realized he had placed a kiss upon my cheek and I gasped in shock, placing my hand upon my own cheek. I had felt it, a soft warm compression on my cheek in the perfect form of lips and I laughed, never feeling happier in my life. I started as I realized my hand on my cheek was getting wet.

I hastily wiped my eyes, laughing softly to myself, still in amazement. I now remembered my parents, and they were so happy.

I jumped as the screen went black and looked around wildly. _Alright, here we go again… _I thought, anticipating the next image.

It appeared directly in front of me causing me to jump back and fall to the ground, a looming image of Uncle Vernon crowded my sight, his beady eyes glaring down at me with rage, his skin purpling with his barely contained fury, his voice thundering in the dark and his fist raised high. I screamed out in surprise at the image, instinctively covering my head with my arms and curling into myself.

A sharp crack sounded through the darkness and I peeked through my arms, my chest rising and falling rapidly as adrenaline shot through me, to see the image; it was still, like a photograph, and, although Vernon still seemed in a rage, it was now run through with cracks, like glass before it shatters.

I slowly came to my feet and stared at the huge image. I took a deep breath in, looking at the larger than life man. I glared back him before letting out a yell that could have been considered a war cry before running and jumping through the image, shattering it into a million tiny fragments.

_On to the next,_ I thought as I began to wander through the darkness.

**(Luna's POV)**

I arrived in the room on the second day to see that Edward had not moved an inch from his previous location. His head turned slightly to look at me and he gave me a small nod in greeting.

I smiled, coming to stand next to him, "Morning. Just so you know, when Harry starts leaking, don't worry, he's just purging," I informed him as I looked down at Harry who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. When I looked up Edward was looking at me like I was out of my mind, but I was used to that sort of reaction from time to time. "Hence the bucket and sponge," I told him softly, patting his arm.

I turned and left the room. I needed to speak with some people. "Miss Alice, care to join me?" I asked at my usual volume.

"Of course, Miss Luna, I'll get the car," She replied, suddenly appearing next to me. "Shall I grab Sirius and Carlisle?" She inquired curiously.

"I think that would be wise," I replied, "Would hate to start a war before noon."

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We stood along the border between the vampire and werewolf territories, waiting for the pack to come along, which admittedly, was not going to take long.

Jacob appeared first, I saw him in the distance through the trees before he disappeared briefly to then reappear as a human and partially dressed. He loped towards us, running a hand through his hair as he did. "Hi," he said softly as his only greeting. He looked at the four of us before smiling softly at Sirius and then, oddly, at Alice.

_This may go better than expected_, I though smiling brightly, "Are you able to speak for your pack, Jacob Black?" I asked softly, taking a step forward, standing on the boundary line.

Jacob hesitated for a few seconds, "If it's serious we should probably wait for Sam…."

I nodded my head slightly and took a step back to wait. It was only about 5 minutes later that, what seemed to be, his entire pack met us on the border. I glanced at the three next to me, asking them and perhaps slightly just telling them that I would be speaking for them. Most of the wolves appeared in their wolf forms but Jacob, a young boy and a taller, more imposing man and a woman all appeared in human form.

I smiled innocently at the wolves, taking a step forward again, "Hello, my name is Luna Lovegood, these are my friends Carlisle Cullen, Alice Cullen and Sirius Black, who you know," I paused scanning them. "I suppose I should open with that we mean you no harm, but there are things we must discuss."

The taller man sneered at me, "Like you lot biting a human at the hospital perhaps?"

The entire forest seemed to tense at that. I smiled again, "Yes that would be one. Ronald Weasley, is practically my adopted brother, and I am here to… disillusion you all from your belief that he did not want this and, like me, he has far more power than you all, and he probably doesn't give a Crumple-Horned Snorkack what you think about his decisions. He is happy, and we are not human, so you do not need to protect us. We make our own choices, and I laugh at your desire to protect us, you are not a threat to me or mine."

Both sides were completely silent when I was finished, which wasn't too unusual for me, people in school were usually quiet after I talked, either because they didn't know how to respond to my whimsical beliefs or because they were surprised when I said something genuinely intelligent. I let them process it for a moment.

Sirius stepped forward to stand beside me. "Luna, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Severus and I are wizards, and what Luna says is true, we're not like you, and we can land you on backsides if needed. The Cullens helped us save one of our own and they will help us save my godson. I am sorry if you feel this breaks your treaty but it really doesn't. You could not stop these kids from doing what they want, even if you tried." Sirius said this with a smirk.

Jacob looked ill, while the young boy simply seemed curious and the woman stared at me seeming contemplating, but the imposing man sneered, "So what, you'll all turn yourselves into these… vermin and go about your happy little lives?"

I blinked and tilted my head to the side in a way I unconsciously knew was kind of creepy as I analysed the situation and foresaw things, "No," I answered, my eyes wide and dilated as I observed the quick flashes of the future. "I will not, nor will Draco, we will grow old with children, and Sirius and Severus will stop being so foolish and resolve their issues. Hermione will perhaps, to be with Ron and Harry." Sirius cleared his throat and I returned to the present, tilting my head back, "and you will listen to me, or you will not like the consequences very much."

He scoffed, "No offense, but I highly doubt a little girl is a match for even one wolf."

My left eyebrow shot up in challenge and a smirk Draco could have been proud of tugged at my lips. My lips pulled away to reveal a devious grin and I crossed the boundary line. "Sirius," I said over my shoulder, "5 galleons say not a scratch."

Sirius just scoffed, "I am not taking those odds, thanks."

The wolves all stiffened as I reached into my sleeve and pulled what looked like a stick of wood from it. I moved into a dueling position so practiced because of Harry and war. My hair danced in the sudden breeze as I felt the air begin up hum with my magic. I did not have as much power as Harry, not by a long shot, but I had taught him wandless and wordless magic to a certain extent and with my wand in my hand I could confidently say that I was a force to be reckoned with. So I grinned, "I'll make you a deal, if you can restrain me and retrieve my wand before I render you all incapacitated, then you can rip the Cullens apart," they seemed immediately taken aback by this and Carlisle and Alice, on the other hand, didn't look worried but slightly disapproving. I knew they did not resort to violence as a means to fix their problems, but neither did I usually. This was more to prove a point anyways, "but, if I win, you back off my family and the Cullens, or I finish the job."

**(Draco's POV)**

Rosalie carried me on her back as she ran at what seemed to be warp speed through the trees. I grumbled softly to myself. Luna had left a measly little note explaining what she was doing, and I didn't like it one bit. Rosalie had been the first vampire I had found and I had proceeded to inform her she was taking me to the boundary so that I could make sure Luna did not kill someone. Rosalie had been hesitant seeing as she wasn't too upset by the idea of someone hurting the wolves. Ron insisted on coming with us, seeing as he was part of the reason there was conflict and we couldn't really argue with that seeing as he did seem to have complete control of himself. He ran beside Rosalie, his head turning this way and that, taking in the forest around him, and I rolled my eyes, it was like he had never seen a forest before.

We broke through the trees to see Luna in her dueling position and a grin on her face that made my heart flutter for a moment. She could have been placed in Slytherin with just that smile. I jumped off Rosalie and quickly came to stand by her side. I got my first look at the wolves and honestly, I feel too impressed, I don't know why the vampires were even humoring them. They all looked tense at our arrival and I smiled a Malfoy smile of sickly sweetness and lies. "Alright, how about everybody just take a deep breath for a moment; Luna, please, if you would?" I asked her giving her a small smile and laying a hand on her shoulder. She pulled slowly out of her position and went to stand by Ron, looking territorial.

"May I ask what the trouble is?" I felt my face melt into the ionic, diplomatic, Slytherin caricature of the Malfoy family as I looked between the two hostile groups.

A tall man who was rather angry at the moment stepped forward, he seemed to be the leader, and glared at me. Behind him there was an older teenager looked almost pained and the only other two human people, a boy and a girl, looked stuck between the choice of shifting into their wolf forms and remaining human. The man practically spat while snarling at me, "The Cullens have betrayed the treaty in biting a human and while likely bite more of you, they vowed not to and because they broke it we are not obligated to keep the peace any longer. We are not threatened by you, your kind or the little girl."

I snorted, completely unimpressed, "Alright, settle down, Muggle, first of all, we're not human," I glared right back at him, "We're wizards, and frankly, you're just a puppy. The Cullens are not going to hurt anyone, they saved our friend Ron, he would have died otherwise, and-"

"He's better off dead," the man growled, interrupting me.

It was almost like another person whipped out my wand and pointed straight at him, the words flew from my mouth and before I knew it, the man lay on the forest floor, large gashes all over his chest and face. He stared up at me with sudden horror filled eyes and a gaping mouth. For a split second I imagined what it would have been like for Harry to have stared down at me with those cuts. Granted, I didn't feel any sort of friendship with this man, but Harry had with me.

We had had a fight in the girl's bathroom in sixth year, our worst one ever, and, although we were friends, we didn't hold back anything, and I had ended up in the hospital wing after he used a spell he found in his potions book, turns out Severus' potions book. Harry made me promise to never use it, because even seeing it done on an enemy would make him remember what he had done to his brother. Well, I was never very good at keeping promises.

A chorus of growls filled the forest and I clenched my jaw. _Well done, Malfoy, really, fantastic work_, I rebuked myself.

There was a rapid succession of the spell Petrificus Totalus from Luna, Ron, myself and Sirius as we fired them on the wolves, leaving the teenager and the boy and girl free. I looked down at the man, watching his cuts heal rather quickly. I glanced at three, assessing that what I was about to do was okay and knelt by the man's head, "If you had felt any real pain, any real loss at all," I murmured down by his ear, but loud enough for all to hear, "You would never insinuate that someone was ever better off dead. A madman murdered my parents and before that they lost themselves to him. My parents murdered my friends and their families. My parents hurt me and did not care if their friends did either." The man looked horrified to say the least, so did everyone in the clearing for that matter. "I will not sit by while my friends die, if you have a problem with that, you'll be going through me. I can kill you with two words, and, unlike my friends here, I will do it and I will not feel any remorse while doing it."

I stood then, taking a deep breath, glancing back at the Cullens and Ron, Luna and Sirius. They seemed alright, if not a bit shaken by what I had done and said. Luna came over to stand beside me, and I remembered what I was going to say before he interrupted me. I turned and glared down at him, "Oh, and don't refer to my girlfriend as a 'little girl,' her name is Luna, and she can turn you into a coffee table."

**Review time?**


	19. Chapter 18

**I literally just finished this. If there are spelling or grammar mistakes, sorry. Enjoy, I am really happy with this and we are almost done!**

**Chapter 18**

**(Hermione's POV)**

"How is he?" Severus' low melodious voice had stopped surprising me over the last couple years when he suddenly appeared in a room almost like he had apparated.

Edward had remained in the same spot for the last few hours, just staring at Harry's face. "We're all okay," I said shrugging. "He hasn't done much, but neither had Ron."

Severus nodded, "That's good, I-"

Edward let out a surprised noise and jumped back for a second. I turned to examine what he had been looking at on Harry's face that surprised him so much. There was something viscous and black oozing out of his pores, particularly around his scar that was sizzling like Harry's skin was a hotplate before sliding off his skin like water. The skin under where the black ooze was coming from looked the same as it did before it happened when the gunk slid away and I glanced up at Severus, who had come around the other side of the bed to try and observe Harry and what was happening. "Severus?"

"Hold on a moment, Hermione," he murmured, observing Harry. "I believe that is Harry's horcrux being destroyed. It's being forced from Harry's body, but he wants to stick to Harry, and when he can't he simply falls away when it dies."

"You got all that just from looking at it?" Edward asked a smile on his lips as he looked down at Harry. His shoulders looked more relaxed now and I smiled, glad that he wasn't so worried about Harry.

Severus smirked at him, "It's only a theory, but yes. This did not occur with Ron and it seems to be centered on Harry's scar."

I caught sight of bucket and sponge Luna had left before she had disappeared to wherever she had run off to with Alice. I beamed, "Well at least we know now what the bucket was for."

Severus glanced at the bucket and nodded with a snort. "Speaking of which, we should probably put that to use."

I frowned, yeah I definitely didn't enjoy the purpose of the bucket, but I still picked it up and took it over to the bathroom.

By the time I had returned so had Luna, Ron, Draco and the others and they were all crowding around Harry's bed. Harry had begun sweating that black gunk everywhere and his clothes were basically soaked and Edward helped me pull off his shirt, which was incredibly gross and I picked up one of the sponges and began to wipe away as much as I could. I raised an eyebrow at Luna, Ron and Draco and Edward, Alice and Rosalie who were just standing there not helping. "Well come on, I'm not doing this all myself."

Ron and Draco sighed dramatically both reaching for a sponge with grimaces. Luna snorted at them and took a sponge willingly. "Bunch of babies," she muttered, coming to my side to help me. Edward and Alice pitched in while Rosalie flat out refused for several minutes before caving in, much to our amusement.

Ron and Draco still had disturbed looks on their faces as Edward gently sponged Harry's face. "I am not going anywhere near the…" Draco waved vaguely and I raised an eyebrow at him in amusement.

A small grin on my face, "the what?" I asked, feigning confusion.

Draco glared, "All I am saying is that I am not going anywhere near the Saviour of the Wizarding World's… areas."

"What _are_ you talking about?" Ron joined in, giving me a wink. I grinned, glad that Ron caught on.

Draco looked flustered, "Luna, help me out here?"

She giggled, "I would Draco, but I am just not sure what you are talking about."

He glared at all of us, especially Edward's face, because he was silently laughing at Draco while still washing Harry's face. Alice giggled at our antics and shared a look with Luna. Rosalie was spared from the glare, but just because she was ignoring all of us entirely while she worked. He huffed, "All I am saying is that you can find someone else to wash his… John Thomas."

Ron burst out laughing at that and Luna and I restrained giggles while Edward just shook his head at the four of us. I chuckled, "Well obviously, Draco, I'm not doing that either…." That was seconded by basically everyone in the room.

"You lot are ridiculous," Edward said still tenderly washing Harry's face and moved now to the neck. I grinned at Draco who glared right back, sometimes it seemed remarkable to me how little had changed between us all.

"What do you think it'll be like when he wakes up?" I asked, changing the subject for Draco's sake as we finished to the best of our abilities and we sat around the room to watch Harry, but more to give Edward company seeing as he was still reluctant to leave Harry alone.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked sending me a small, almost secret smile. I returned it before glancing about at the others.

"I don't know, just how do you think things are going to work out… will we go back to school, will we run off somewhere else, will Harry be like Ron?" I shrugged glancing at the others.

"I imagine he will be like Ron," Draco mused.

Ron looked down at Harry's face, his eyes misting over as he went deeper into his thoughts, "I think he will… but I can't be certain. The memories…." He murmured.

"What about them?" Edward asked glancing up from Harry's peaceful face to study Ron's.

Ron shook his head, his eyes closing, "You see everything… flashing before your eyes and some you destroy and some you cherish… but... it's not that easy. Some memories are harder to confront than others… and Harry has seen so much… and he has Voldemort to contend with."

Edward looked back down at his love and ran a shaky hand through his dishevelled hair.

(Harry's POV)

I screamed into the dark, falling to my knees, "Cedric!" I cried, covering my eyes with my hands, not wanting to relive the moment of watching the first innocent death I had seen. "No, no, no," I whispered angrily, fisting my hair, "Stop it!"

A ghostly laugh boomed through my mind and I shrieked, immediately standing and whirling around, looking for the source. He was here somewhere.

"Poor little baby potter," a new voice giggled in the dark before cackling with laugher. I turned to try and find Bellatrix, but all I could see were murky shadows in the dark.

"Pathetic scum," a voice growled in the shadows, "Draco is mine, my blood, my son; you will pay for poisoning his mind!" Lucius shouted the torture curse after and I felt it curse through my body even after the fact. I screamed, spinning, trying to get some bearings.

"Harry," a soft voice whispered through the shadows like a breath on the wind, I turned towards it like a compass needle to the North, "…. It's going to be alright Harry, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. No one will hurt you."

I ran, not even sure if I was moving, in my mind towards the voice in the dark, the only light. I broke through until I could see his face, until I could see Edward kneeling in front of me, his hands on my cheeks, his eyes sincere. I sighed, falling to my knees. I took gulps of air in to try and calm myself down.

"How sweet," a voice simpered behind me. I looked over my shoulder at Voldemort, he stood there casually, just watching the moment between Edward and I. "If I had known you had enjoyed the company of men so much I would have certainly been a gracious host when you had been in my care," he said in the same tone, smirking like the devil.

I shuddered at the thought, standing and turning towards him, I sighed, "Alright, I guess we better get this over with right?"

Voldemort looked taken aback, "Giving up so soon?"

I shook my head, "No," I replied nonchalantly, "I just know you will lose."

Voldemort laughed in my face, which caused me to grimace due to the fact it made his face even uglier if possible. After listening to him laugh for long enough, I just rolled my eyes and told him, "You might be interested to know that this is my mind, and my memories, and my domain, anything you have done here will be undone, because you are not me, not a single fibre of you is me, and the vampire blood in my veins will cleanse me of that… and there is nothing you can do about it."

Voldemort laughed and spat on the ground, "You foolish little boy, you know nothing. You will accomplish nothing!"

I smiled and stretched a hand out towards him, calling upon my mind and my magic to build a cage around him, which it reacted almost immediately, caging him in place. He looked surprised by this and shocked me by immediately touching the bars, which were electrified with my magic. He growled back out at me from within his cell.

I smiled at him, getting real close to the bars, "My mind. My magic. My rules." My eyes narrowed at him as I suddenly felt very victorious, "I'm sorry," I said cocking my head to the side, "Did I forget to tell you that I have my magic back… that and I am no longer afraid of you, you who is nothing more than a ghost… if even that," I snarled and he hissed back at me like a furious snake.

The two of us stood, him behind bars and me on the outside, glaring at each other, with victory in my veins.

(Edward's POV)

It was the 3rd day and Ron and I sat together just waiting for Harry to wake up…. He had stopped sweating whatever it was that had been coming out of his pores and he was in a fresh pair of clothes and he looked so still that it was hard not to imagine that he was dead. The others had left us to watch him, choosing to take their minds off the situation a little. Draco and Luna had wandered off together in the forest, most likely talking about their new leap into being together and Severus and Sirius were playing chess downstairs, which Severus was going to win based on their thoughts. Hermione had relented to Alice and Rosalie and the three had gone shopping and my family milled about, just waiting. Emmett and Jasper were playing video games and Carlisle was in his office doing work while Esme was out tending to the garden.

Ron's head slowly turned towards me, and I gently tilted my head to look back at him, waiting for what he was going to say, words I could already read in his thoughts. "I know you already know this," Ron began slowly, looking me in the eyes with the most dead serious eyes I had seen him have, "But I feel it must be said regardless. If you ever hurt Harry, _ever_, there is no force on this earth that would stop Draco, Severus, Sirius and I from ripping you limb from limb and burning you to a crisp, regardless of Harry's feelings. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

I took an unnecessary deep breath in, "I know, and you know I never will, but I understand."

He nodded slowly and turned his head to look back Harry's body, "Good," he merely stated.

The hours passed between us in mostly silence, he occasionally says something or asks a question, but other than that we just watch and his mind drifts. His mind is more open to me now that he is a vampire, I wasn't sure why, but it was still hidden, I only caught flickers of images for a few second of people and places… events long passed; a tall castle, a young girl with vibrant red hair, an odd mishmash house and Harry, so young and innocent looking, a fancy ball in which he watched Hermione dance with someone else and two twin boys with brilliant red hair that was only matched by their grins. Ron's mind turned towards his friend and Harry's face flashed in his mind at various ages, from when he was so young and behind barred windows and him older, hardened and behind Voldemort's cell bars. The young man playing quidditch and his sudden appearance after the final task, holding a cup and a dead boy's arm… it made my heart ache.

"He's been through far too much," Ron murmured before glancing up at me, "You better take good care of him."

I nodded, "Of course," we launched again into a long silence.

A soft noise, like the flutter of wings broke the quiet around us and Harry's chest expanded with his breath as his head rolled to its side, facing us. I immediately rose to my feet, looking down at his face as he slowly awoke.

His eyes peeled open and looked up at me with their stunning green, now with flecks of yellow in them and I laughed, a feeling of pure joy crashing through me like ocean waves. I gently touched his hair, him as breathtaking as ever, crying without tears and sucking in breaths too hard and too useless. He looked up at me, searching my face like a hungry man before grabbing my arms, pulling himself up and into my arms.

We remained like that for a time, uncountable; an eternity. His face in my shoulder and his hair tickling my cheek, and my fair pressed to the side of his head and our arms, too tight around the other. Him in my arms, unbreakable and fierce, he was perfection; he was all beauty and righteousness. He was my home, my life. I could feel him breathing my scent and his arms tightened impossibly.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," he whispered in a mantra and I echoed it back to him. There was nothing more to say.

**I think we have maybe 1 or 2 chapters left (including Epilogue) and I am very excited. Are you excited!?**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey everybody. This is the end. We've had an awesome run, thanks for the reviews and feedback and I hope you enjoyed the ride.**

**Total words for whole fic: 74,992**

**Chapter 19**

**(Harry's POV)**

I ran a hand through my hair, recently cut to a tame trim. Of course now instead of being a mass of chaos it looked styled to perfection. I smirked slightly remembering how Sirius had teased me on my good looks. Kneeling now down before the graves of my two surrogate fathers I could hardly believe they had been gone so long, they were still so imprinted in my memory so clearly it felt like I had seen them only yesterday.

It had been 84 years since I had been changed. Sirius and Severus had lived to the ripe old ages of 102 and 109 respectfully, which was relatively normal for wizards. I had come every year in the spring since Sirius' passing to visit their graves which had been set down beside my parents'. I could still smell the fumes of potion ingredients simmering when I thought of Severus and felt a bubble of laughter in my throat at jokes long since told by Sirius.

The honey bees avoided me as they buzzed about going to flower to flower as I rested my own sets down on each of the four stones. I could feel the others hovering over my left shoulder somewhere in the distance, giving me the space I needed to show my yearly respects.

"Hi guys," I finally sighed, "I hope you are all enjoying the afterlife… as usual. Mom and Severus are probably sick of James and Sirius' shenanigans now, but hey, they're still making up for lost time right? I hope Remus and Tonks are with you all. Teddy is still happy with Jacob, even with the age difference, though it's gotten significantly less easy to see thanks for Jacob. Though I suppose Remus and Tonks can't _really_ talk. They're almost through the adoption services… going to get a baby girl. I know, right, good luck," I chuckled with a snort. "Luna and Draco are good, getting up there in the years, their eldest, Lily, gave birth to twins in the winter, Fred and Georgina." I grinned, "She is not prepared for what she has just done. Ron wouldn't stop going between laughing at her and cuddling with them. Hermione is good as usual; she finished her masters' degree, again. She's really using the night to her advantage… though I am not sure how happy about that Ron is," I snickered; it was like Hogwarts all over again. Hermione had been turned a couple years after us, just old enough to be able to pass as someone in college. She and Ron were mates, and no one was surprised by that fact.

I had a good life, a good man and a huge family. I felt anxiety at Draco and Luna's growing age, but I knew they did not. They were not afraid of dying; they knew we would take care of their children. In a way I suppose it would soften their passing, but I did not think the world would ever be the same without them. Although I had not thought that I would live without Sirius and Severus, they had gotten over their differences in later years and become very close. Sirius eventually revealed to me that he and Severus dated briefly at Hogwarts, before James gotten obsessed with Lily, and that is why Severus had hated him so much. To have a lover, even a past one, turn on him so thoroughly had broken his heart and Sirius had felt so guilty but had not known how to fix it. I had eventually helped them see that they had grown up to almost entirely different people and to let the grudge go.

I shared a few more stories with my four parents before Edward came and knelt down beside me. "Hey there," He murmured, nudging my shoulder.

"Hey," I answered, leaning my head onto my husband's shoulder, utterly content, "So I was thinking… your side's going to Paris tonight… Luna and Draco are visiting friends… Hermione and Ron are going to give their respects to Hermione's parents…. Evening all to ourselves."

Edward snorted, kissing him behind the ear. "Really, Harry, not in front of your parents."

I rolled my eyes, a small smile breaking on my face, "Dork," I whispered before pressing my lips to his softly, "love you, forever."

"Love you, too, forever," Edward whispered back against my lips.

I grinned with all teeth and chuckled, hardly remembering a time when I didn't have something to smile or laugh about. I breathed the easy air, no weight settled on my shoulders. There was nothing but blue sky and Edward ahead for me and I couldn't think of a better life. I grinned even bigger, every time I came here and when I turned to leave I said a little prayer of thanks to fate, to my parents, all four, and my family, because just living felt just so damn good.

**That's all folks. Have a nice day. See you next time.**


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